By Satyaraja Dasa
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Although many articles have been written about the Gita as a philosophical poem, exploring its meaning and theological implications, and although both devotees and nondevotees have written elaborate studies of Srila Prabhupada's translation, few articles deal with the text as a historical phenomenon, something that came to us after a long journey of commentary and explication. In the very beginning of the Gita's fourth chapter, the text itself provides its own explanation of its prehistoric unveiling: Krishna says that He revealed the teachings to the sun-god Vivasvan, who in turn instructed Manu, the father of mankind, who then conveyed this same knowledge to Ikshvaku. (Gita 4.1)