On the battlefield, the hero Arjuna is overcome with doubt: Is it permissible for him to kill his relatives who stand before him as enemies? His charioteer Krishna responds, guiding him on the paths of righteous action, showing him the ways that lead to salvation, and revealing himself as the supreme, all-encompassing deity. The Bhagavad Gita, the "Song of the Sublime," is one of the most significant works in the history of Indian religion, newly published in the faithful translation by the Tübingen Indologist Richard Garbe (1857-1927). Vyasa, or Srila Vyasadeva, is referred to as the legendary author of the Bhagavad Gita—a part of the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic of the struggle of the descendants of Bharata in 106,000 couplets, which was composed from the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD. He is the son of Mahamuni Parashara and was fathered by Satyavati before her marriage to Maharaja Shantanu, the father of the revered.