Gita Bhashya -Sankara 6

Shri Sankara's Gita Bhashya

(Sri Sankaracharya's Commentary on the Gita)

CHAPTER -1

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(ARJUNA VISADA YOGAH)
(YOGA OF THE DEJECTION OF ARJUNA)

Dhrtarāstra uvāca—

Dharmaksetre Kuruksetre samavetā yuyutsavdh
Mātnakāh Pāndavāścaiva kim-akurvata Sañjaya

Dhrtarāstra spoke[1]—-

1. O Sañjaya, having met on the holy field of Kuruksetra,[2] eager for battle, what did my sons and those of Pāndu do?

Sañjaya uvdca—

Drstvā tu Pāndavānīkam vyūdham Dutyodhanas-tadā
Ācāryam-apasamgamya rājā vacanam-abravīt

Sañjaya said—
2. And then, seeing the forces of the Pāndavas marshalled, King[3] Duryodhana, approaching the teacher,[4] spoke (these) words—

Paśyaitām Pāndu-putrānām-ācārya mahalim camūm
Vyudham Drupada-putrena tava śkyena dhimatā

3. Behold, O Master, this great army of the sons of Pāndu, arrayed for battle by your gifted disciple, the son[5] of Drupada.

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References and Context

  1. ↑ Prelude to the Gita—All negotiations with the Kaurava Prince Duryo­ dhana for the peaceful restoration of their kingdom to the Pāndavas, their cousins, having failed, both sides prepared themselves for war. 'The Lord, Śri Krsna, consented to serve as charioteer to Arjuna, the third of the five Pāndava brothers, but without Himself participating in battle by taking up arms, and 'to place His powerful army at the disposal of Duryodhana. The sage Veda-Vyāsa offered Dhrtarāslra, the father of Duryodhana, the gift of trans­ cendent vision to enable him'to view the battle; but as the latter did not wish directly to witness the carnage among members of his own family, and wanted merely to hear an account of what occurred, the gift was bestowed on Safijaya, Dhrtarast'a's companion and counsellor. On the tenth day of the war, Bhj$ma, the doyen of the Kuru race (to which the warring parties belonged) and Commander-in-Chief of Duryodhana's forces, was beaten and jay OH his bed of arrows, awaiting the advent of Uttarāyana (the winter solstice) for quitting the body. When this news was conveyed to him by Safijaya, Dhrtarāstra wished to hear a detailed account of the war-situation from the beginning. Here commences the first chapter of the Bhagavad-GUā, forming the twenty-fifth chapter of the " Bh;sma Parva " of the Mahā-Bhārata.
  2. ↑ Kurukselralies between ihe modern towns of Delhi and Ambala. Austerities were performed theie by the gods and by King Kuru, the founder of the race bearing his name ; hence it is considered as a holy tract. It is said that King Kuru was continuously ploughing the area with a golden plough, and when lndra (the lord of gods) enquired of him his motive, he asked for the boon that the seed of Dharma sown there should grow for ever.
  3. ↑ Duryodhana was actually exercising regal power, his father Dhrtarāstra being only a titular sovereign.
  4. ↑ Dronācārya, who taught archery both to the Kauravas and to the Pandavas'and also to Bhrstadyumna (infra. 5). After the tall of Bhjjma, lie wa" commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army from the eleventh to the fifteenth days of the war. See also XI-34 Com.
  5. ↑ Dhrstadyumna (son of Drupada), bom in the sacrificial altar, was the predestinld slayer of Drona. He was one of the commander-m-eh,efs of the Pāndava army . Sec 41 infra.