Is gItA an Upanishad?

[Vivek Anand Ganesan]

Hello all :

    Going by the enumeration of the upanishads and
their classification as shruti as accepted by tradition,
why is gItA not considered an upanishad even though it
refers to itself as an upanishad?  Is it just because it
occurs as part of MahAbhAratam?

    Also, after joining this list, I have learned that
there
are other gItA-s ( like the Devi gIta, AshtAvakAra gItA
etc.
 ).  Why is it that ShrI BhagavatpAda chose only the
Bhagavad gItA to comment on?  The reason I ask is because
the VaishNava-s claim the text as their own.  So, why would
ShrI BhagavatpAda who espouses equanimity to various
deities
choose to comment on a "sectarian" work and establish it
as one of the pillars of his philosophy?

-Vivek.

PS : I am not so sure about the "sectarian-ness" of gItA.
     It seems that even an ardent Kashmiri Shaivite ( I
     forget which one ) has commented on the gItA.  So, I
     suppose that the VaishNavas cannot "own" the gItA.

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