RAS question
The Bhagavad Gita is part of which epic?
Correct answer: (D) Mahabharata.
The Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata, specifically the Bhishma Parva, where Krishna and Arjuna discuss duty, knowledge and devotion on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
Explanation
The Bhagavad Gita belongs to the Mahabharata, not to a separate Vedic or political text. It is placed in the Bhishma Parva, with the setting at Kurukshetra and the speakers as Krishna and Arjuna. eGyanKosh (IGNOU) describes the Bhagavad Gita as usually considered part of the sixth book of the Mahabharata and as a philosophical dialogue between Lord Krishna and the warrior Arjuna. That is why the answer is Mahabharata: the Gita is embedded within the epic narrative and presents Krishna's teaching to Arjuna on duty, knowledge, devotion and related strands of Hindu philosophy.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Arthashastra is a political treatise, whereas the Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata.
- (B) Ramayana is the epic attributed to Valmiki, but the Bhagavad Gita belongs to the Mahabharata and to Krishna and Arjuna's dialogue.
- (C) Rig Veda contains hymns, while the Bhagavad Gita is a philosophical dialogue within the Mahabharata.
Concept
This tests basic source identification in ancient Indian literature: knowing which texts belong to Vedic literature, epics and treatises. RAS repeats such questions because they anchor larger themes such as dharma, ancient Indian thought and the historical classification of texts.