The Bhagavad Gita is an integral part of a vast epic, the great Sanskrit poem, The Mahabharata. According to the scholar J.A.B. van Buitenen the Mahabharata has had an immense influence, more than any other text, on Indian civilization. The Mahabharata is not just another tale of the ceaseless human drama, but it is ‘the storehouse of political wisdom, philosophical doctrine, religious doctrines, and a splendid work of literary art’ (M.N. Dutt).
Indian tradition has accepted Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa as poet author of the Mahabharata. Krishna means dark in complexion, Dvaipayana refers to his birth in a river islet as dvip means Island, and Vyasa means the compiler of texts. Most scholars agree that the main story was the conscious composition of one poet, or at least a small group of poets. But over time there were many additions to the Mahabharata and therefore versions or what is termed recensions.