Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya 3

Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya

Chapter-1 : Arjuna Vishad Yoga

Prev.png

When the internecine war between the sons of Pāṇḍu and the descendants of Kuru broke out, Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Being, the God of all gods, overwhelmed by His love for those devotees who had taken refuge in Him, took upon Himself the humble role of the charioteer of Arjuna, so that He could be seen by all the people. Even though the King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, who was blind both physically and spiritually, knew that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Being, he expressed a desire to hear about the military competence of his son Suyodhana (Duryodhana) and questioned Sañjaya his chief minister thus: —


Dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca
dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ |
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāścaiva kim akurvata sañjaya || 1 ||

Dhrtarashtra said:
1. What did my people and the Pandavas do, O Sanjaya, [1] gathered together on the holy field of Kurukshetra, eager for battle?

Sañjaya uvāca

dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanas tadā |
ācāryam upasaṅgamya rājā vacanam abravīt || 2 ||

Sanjaya said:
2. O King! Duryodhana[2], being moved by the sight of the Pandava army in battle array, approached
his teacher Drona[3] and said these words:

Next.png

References and Context

  1. ↑ Sañjaya was the son of a charioteer named Gavalgama, he was an extremely learned scholar in the Scriptures,generous and a staunch practitioner of Dharma being impartial and truthful. For these reasons Bhishma appointed him to be the second minister of the King Dhrtarashtra along with Vidura as the first.
  2. ↑ Duryodhana was the eldest among the one hundred sons of Dhrtarashtra, he was cruel and wicked and did everythingin his power to exterminate the Pandavas. During the battle he was finally killed by Bhima.
  3. ↑ Drona was the son of a great Rishi Bharadvaja and learned the science of marshal arts from Parasurama. He had thebenediction that he would only die at the time of his choosing and thus was invincible. After a falling out with hischildhood friend Drupada, he took employment in the kaurava court and became the teacher to both the Pandavas andthe Kauravas.