Does anyone have any information on the position Mahabharata occupied in the learning process of ancienct and medeival India ? It is a Smriti text and there are 15 Gitas in the Mahabharata, including the Bhagawat Gita (please correct this if I am mistaken about the number 15). Familiraity with the MBh. could imply familiarity with the BG. The various incidents relating to Sri Krishna that the Alvars sing of, are these from the MBh. or the Puranas ? Would it be correct to interpret that a reference to the entire MBh. is quantified in the Alvars' poems as Sri Krishna standing in front of/on the chariot with Arjuna ? If I am not mistaken, Bodhayana, whom Sri Ramanuja quotes, has made references to the BG and MBh. in his vartikka. Bodhayana is dated to about 400 BC. If there is a detailed reply to this, please send it to me directly (in keeping with the policy of 2k as the post limit).[...]
In the whole 4000 poems, only at one instance we can imply
Gita. Compared to the position of BhG in India's national
discourse, BhG was occupying a miniscule, if any, postion
in Alvars' days.
Thanks
Ashish