The Bhagavad-Gita has been an essential text of Hindu culture in India since the time of its composition in the first century A.D. One of the great classics of world literature, it has inspired such diverse thinker as Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, and T.S. Eliot. Set on an ancient battlefield where the armies of rival cousins stand ready to fight, the Gita recounts the epic tale of the warrior-prince Arjuna as he confronts universal moral dilemnas. What is the purpose or justification for war? Where does the right path of action lie when one duty conflicts with another? Gradually, through the intercession of his charioteer, the god Krishna, Arjuna is led to a higher understanding of the spiritual nature of man and the world.