How many Gitas?

Generally with the term Gita we mean the Bhagavad-Gita. Bhagavad Gita literally means the ‘Song of God’ and appears as the dialogue between Krishna, the charioteer and Arjuna, the archer, on the eve of the battle at Kurukshetra. It is an upanishadic style conversation between Guru (enlightened) and his disciples (seeker). It is clear that Lord Krishna avoided the discourse till Arjuna fully surrendered saying ‘shishyasteham shadhi mam tvaam prapannam‘ (chapter 2, verse 7)- “Krishna, please instruct me. I am your surrendered disciple”.  Then Lord Krishna gave Srimad Bhagwad Gita only to Arjuna and the entire Kurukshetra was in suspended animation at that time. Nobody talked on Bhagavad Gita at any other time except Arjuna, who wanted to hear it again but the request was not accepted by Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna felt sad that Arjuna had not ‘owned it up’. But still Lord Krishna gave him Anugita-Such was ‘Sakhya Bhakti”.

Scholars date it to around 300 BC, though some date it to 800 BC, the period of the Upanishads or even 3100 BC. It is in Bhishma Parva of Mahabharata in chapters 23 to 40. It comprises of 700 verses in 18 chapters. It is written in Sanskrit, a language spoken by less than five percent of Indians in its long history-mostly the priests and kings, not the common folk. Yet, the ideas found in the Gita percolated into the masses and got imbibed in the Indian ethos.

Out of 700 verse of Gita 645 are composed in 32 syllable-2 line Anushtup/shloka Chhanda (Vipula or Pathyavaktra) and rest in 55 syllsble-4 line Trishtup (Upajati, Indravajra, Upendravajra, Viparita Purva) Chhanda. 700 Shlokas are spoken by Krishna – 574, Arjuna – 84, Sanjaya – 41 and Dhrita Rashtra – 1. 

The Bhagavad Gita is a part of the Prasthanatrayi- key texts for the Vedanta, along with the Upanishads and Brahma sutras. It is referred to in the Brahma Sutras and all acharyas wrote commentaries on it. The Bhagavad Gita is is accessible to all, in contrast to the Vedas, which are only to be read and heard by the higher castes.

Gita is one of the most sacred scriptures to the Hindus that convey the ultimate truth of life-essence of Hindu Wisdom, upanishadic teaching. It presents a synthesis of bhakti, jnana, karma, yoga, samkhya, etc. Numerous commentaries have been written on the Bhagavad Gita with widely differing views.

In past few centuries, it has been a great resource to the European and American intellectuals, for its mystical, theological as well as philosophical contents. Gita has been also accepted by the scholars as a fundamental source of the socio-political-economic scenario of the times.

‘Gita’ is commonly understood as the ‘Bhagavad Gita’, but there are more than hundred different Gitas in our tradition and each has got its own special place in the cultural heritage and the devotee's heart.  Most of them are a part of Itihasa or Puranas. There are more than twenty-five Gitas in the Mahabharata and many in other scriptures written by Vyasa Deva, three of which are in the of dialogue by Lord Krishna with Arjuna. There are few in Ramayana as well. Invariably each Gita is a conversation- philosophical enquiry.

The sacred books that are titled as Gita generally talk of Brahman and Atman; life, death, rebirth and liberation; dilemmas in life, choices we have about right and wrong and curiosity. They contain instructions or answers given by the enlightened ones (Jivanmuktas and Dnyanis) to the earnest seekers. The answers are given, in different ways, partly or totally.

Gita is song or verse that appeals directly to the human heart. Verse is easy to recite and memorize. Whenever someone sees the Truth, he either becomes silent as it is impossible to put in words his vision or he is inspired to depict his vision in a spontaneous poetic expression, that is Gita. Gitas are inspired  to enlighten other seekers. Hence like Upanishdas, Gitas are also Apourusheya, coming from higher sources, pious humans being only instruments.  This is one of the reasons that we have many Gitas. Many Gitas don’t confuse Hindus since Vedas proclaimation, ‘Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti- Existence is One, Sages express it in different ways’ has been accepted universally.

Gita has fascinated so many saints, poets and philosophers that there are many versions of this. Each one wrote Gita in his own language and style. Lord Krishna states in the Bhagavad-Gita 

 
shraddhayarchitum icchati 
tasya tasyacalam shraddham 
tam eva vidadhamy aham 

“Whichever divine form a devotee (craving for some worldly object) chooses to worship with reverence, I stabilise the faith of that particular devotee in that very form”.

The Bhagavad Gita has been extremely popular and highly revered across the world. No wonder even today the word is often used for similar unfoldments by enlightened saints. Every one of the Gita texts lead us to the same conclusion: Live with proper vision(darshan).  

I am trying to list a few Gitas in Mahabharata alone

Mahabharata 18 Parvas- Adi, Sabha, Van/Aranya, Virat, Uyog, Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Shalya, Stree, Sauptika, Shanti, Anushasana, Ashwamedha,  Ashramavasika, Mausala, Mahaprasthana, Swargarohana, Harivansha 1 & 2

Name	Parva	Guru-Shishya	Comment
Vyadha Gita	MB, Vana Parva	Markandeya to Yudhishthira (Dharma Vyadha to sage Kaushika)		Arrogant monk Kaushika is humbled by the simple Vyaadha who teaches him ‘Nishkama Karma’
Shaunaka Gita	MB, VP	Shaunaka to Yudhishthira		The secrets of the general life of the beings of the universe.
Yudhishthira Gita	MB, VP	Yudhishthira to Yaksha		Treats of the basic ethics which forms the bedrock of virtue and divine life
Nahusha Gita	MB, VP	Yudhishthira to Nahusha (as python)
Baka Gita	MB, VP Ch 193	Baka to Indra		A description of the sorrowful condition of the world which a person who lives for a long time has to see.
Sanatsujat Gita (Sanatsujatiya)	MB, Udyoga Parva Ch 41-46	Vidura to Dhritarashtra (Sanatsujata to Dhritarashtra)		Explains the Concept of Brahman, mind, intellect and the methods of attaining the Brahman.  Adi Shankara has commented
Vidura Gita (Vidura Niti)	MB, UP  Ch  33-40	Vidura to Dhritarashtra		The science of governance, politics, values of right conduct, fairplay and truthfulness. Bhagavat Sk 3 Maitreya to Vidura
Shrimad Bhagavad Gita	MB, Bhisma Parva Ch 25-42	Bhagavan Krishna to Arjuna Sanjay to Dhritarashtra		Yoga Vasista reproduces it in full under the caption ` Arjunopakhyana and Varaha purana recounts the essence Hari Gita the name given by Sage Narada to the BG in the Shanti Parva, verse 10, chapter 346.
Bhishma Gita	MB, Bhishma Parva 65-68 & Anushasana Paarva 14,17 149	Bhishma & Vasudeva to Yudhishthira		The hymns of Maheshwara, Vishnu and Narayana
Asmaka Gita	MB, Shanti Parva Ch 28, Rajadharma	Bhishma to Yudhishthira
Utathya Gita	MB, SP Ch 90-91, Rajadharma
Vamadeva Gita	MB, SP Ch 92-94, Rajadharma
Rishabha Gita	MB, SP, Moksha P Ch 125-28
Pingala Gita	MB, SP, Moksha P Ch 168 or 174 (7 verses)	Prostitute Pingala		A beautiful story told by Shri Krishna to Uddhava about a prostitute Pingala and her liberation
(Shiva) Shampaka Gita	MB, SP, Moksha P Ch 176 (3?) 21 verses	A Brahmin on tyaga		Twenty one verses in which Sampaaka a learned and pious Brahmin gives the message that one could attain everlasting happiness only through renunciation
Manki Gita	MB, SP, Moksha P Ch 177 (171?)  51 verses	Sage Manki Story Bull & Camel		Storey of Saint Manki and his two bullocks. Give up desire and greed and develop compassion for all .
Bodhya Gita	MB, SP Ch 178, slokas 57-68	Bhishma to Yudhisthira (Risi Bodhya to king Yayati Six gurus)
Vichakhnu Gita	MB, SP, MokshaP Ch 264-5 (279-280)	King Vichakshnu on Ahinsa		Eleven verses King Vicakhnu’s visit to a yagna where animal sacrifice is to be performed and his moving pleas for Ahimsa.
Harita Gita	MB, SP, Moksha P Ch 277  (278 ?)	Harita Muni on Ahinsa		Sanyasa dharma to achieve moksha, speaks of non violence
Vritra Gita	MB, SP, Moksha P Ch 278 (279-280?)	Vritrasura and Shukracharya on defeat
Parashara Gita	MB, SP, Moksha P Ch 290-298	Rishi Parashara & king Janaka		Very long
Yajnavalkya Gita	MB, SP, Moksha P Ch 310-18
Hansa Gita	MB, SP, Moksha p Ch 299	Brahma as Paramahansa to Sadhyas/Bhsihma		Bhagavat Sk 11 Adhyaya13 Ashwamedha Parva too? Tejomayananda Talks
Shadja Gita	MB,SP Ch 161 or 167
Kama Gita	MB, Ashwamedha Parva Ch 13	Kama says
Anu Gita	MB, AP Ch 16-19	Bhagavan Krishna to Arjuna		Quoted in Bhashyas of Shankaracharya and Sankhya-sara of Vidnyana Bhikshu
Brahmana Gita, (Brahma Gita ?)	MB, AP Ch 20/21- 24/34			A dialogue between a learned Brahmana and his wife about how to escape from the bonds of maya and illusion and attain the highest state of liberation.
Pandava Gita or Prapanna Gita	Traditional. Mahabharata in background. Verses from several sources. But excellent Collection of Various prayers offered by different devotees to the Narayana, reference in Panchadashi
Gitaprapurti Bhagavata	Bhagavatam + Vishvasartantram extract
Laghu Gita	Perhaps 18 select verses from Bhagvadgita
Uttara Gita	Krishnarjuna Dialogue after BG & Anugita, 126 verses. Not found in Mahabharata. Commented by Gaudapada Ashvamedha Parva or Bhishma Parva? It is a supplement to the Bhagavad Gita described in Brahmanda Purana. It treats of Jnana and Yoga etc.
Chapter numbers vary in different recensions. Some sources place Ashtavakra Gita in Vana Parva of MB, I couldn’t trace it Garbha Gita  only 22 verses  Krishna-Arjuna dialogue depicting lament of unborn child being born in the world of Maya-couldn’t be traced in MB