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I-THE GITA AND THE MAHABHARATA
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Immorality, the Doable and the Not-Doable, and Ethics. The Mahābhārata is not merely an epic or merely a history, but it is a Samhitā (summary) dealing with delicate situations of Duty and Non-Duty; and if such a religious epitome does not contain the scientific and logical description of the Philosophy of Karma-Yoga, where else could it come? Such an exposition could certainly not have been included in & treatise which deals merely with Vedānta. An epitome of religion is certainly the most proper place for it; and if the writer of the Mahābhārata had not so included it, this immense book, which deals with religious and moral duties—which is in fact the fifth Veda-would to that extent have remained incomplete. The Bhagavadgitā has been included in the Mahābhārata in order to fill up this gap, and it is our great good fortune that India found an excellent Jñānin and a noble soul like the writer of the Mahābhārata, who was as proficient in worldly affairs as in Vedānta, for sponsoring the subject-matter of Karma-Yoga.
Though it has thus been proved that the present Bhagavadgitā is a part of the present Mahābhārata, yet, this matter must be dealt with in greater detail. We understand the words 'Bhārata' and 'Mahābhārata' as synonymous; but, as a matter of fact, those two works are different from each other. Considering the matter grammatically, any book which would contain a description of the illustrious deeds of the kings of the Bhārata clan could properly be called 'Bhārata'. The etymology of the words 'Rāmāyana' and 'Bhāgavata' is the same; and on that account, any book which contains a description of the Bhārati war would be sufficiently identified by being called 'Bhārata', however extensive it were. The Rāmāyana is not a small work; then why is it not called 'Mahā-Rāmāyana'?; and why should the Bhārata be called 'Maha-Bhārata'? It is stated at the end of the Mahābhārata that the work has been given the name 'Mahābhārata' on account of its two features of (i) greatness (mahalva) and of (ii) dealing with the Bhārata clan (bhāratatva), (Svargā. 5. 44). But if we take the mere literal meaning of the word 'Mahābhārata', it means 'the big Bhārata'; and if this meaning is accepted, the question whether there was a 'small' Bhārata,
