The timeless message of the Bhagavad Gita does not refer only to one historical battle, but to the cosmic conflict between good and evil: life as a series of battles between Spirit and matter, soul and body, life and death, knowledge and ignorance, health and disease, changelessness and transitoriness, self-control and temptations, discrimination and the blind sense-mind. The past tense of the verb in the first stanza is therefore employed by Vyasa to indicate that the power of one’s introspection is being invoked to review the conflicts of the day in one’s mind in order to determine the favorable or unfavorable outcome
1. Shloka 1 (Chapter 1, Verse 1)
Sanskrit:
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच |
धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः |
मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय || 1 ||
Transliteration:
Dhṛitarāṣhṭra uvācha:
Dharma-kṣhetre kuru-kṣhetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ,
Māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāśhchaiva kimakurvata sañjaya.
Translation:
Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjaya, assembled in the holy land of Kurukshetra and desiring to fight, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do?
| Dhṛitarāṣhṭra | Dhritarashtra derives from dhṛta, “held, supported, drawn tight (reins),” and rāṣṭra, “kingdom,” from rāj, “to rule.” By implication, we have the symbolic meaning, dhṛtam rāṣṭraṁ yena, “who upholds the kingdom (of the senses), | the mind is the integration of limited senses is blind because it only has access to limited spectrum of senses (sight , sound , touch , taste and smell). |
| Dharma-kṣhetre | Dharayati iti dharma (Dharma is that which holds) mean field of pranic energy. | The Chakra – seat of pranas |
| kuru-kṣhetre | Kurukshetra (Kuru, from the Sanskrit root kṛi, “work, material action”; and kṣetra, “field”). The nervous system in the field of action. | Cerebrospinal axis in the human body with its physical, mental, and casual faculties. |
| samavetā | ||
| yuyutsavaḥ | ||
| Māmakāḥ | ||
| pāṇḍavāśhchaiva | Pandu derives from pand, “white”—a metaphorical implication of the clarity of a pure discriminating intellect. | |
| kimakurvata | ||
| sañjaya. | completely victorious; “one who has conquered himself. | divine insight – power of impartial intuitive self-analysis, discerning introspection |
THE BLIND KING DHRITARASHTRA (the blind mind) enquired through the honest Sanjaya (impartial introspection): “When my offspring, the Kurus (the wicked impulsive mental and sense tendencies), and the sons of the virtuous Pandu (the pure discriminative tendencies) gathered together on the dharmakshetra (holy plain) of Kurukshetra (the bodily field of activity), eager to do battle for supremacy, what was the outcome?”
It is the metaphorically the question to be asked by the spiritual aspirant as he reviews daily the events of his own righteous battle from which he seeks the victory of Self realization. Through honest introspection he analyzes the deeds and assesses the strengths of the opposing armies of his good and bad tendencies: self-control versus sense indulgence, discriminative intelligence opposed by mental sense inclinations, spiritual resolve in meditation contested by mental resistance and physical restlessness, and divine soul consciousness against the ignorance and magnetic attraction of the lower ego-nature.
The battlefield of these contending forces is Kurukshetra (Kuru, from the . the field on which all activities of one’s life take place. It is referred to in this Gita stanza as Dharmakshetra (dharma, i.e., righteousness, virtue, holiness; thus, holy plain or field), for on this field the righteous battle is waged between the virtues of the soul’s discriminative intelligence (sons of Pandu) and the ignoble, uncontrolled activities of the blind mind (the Kurus, or offspring of the blind King Dhritarashtra).
Dharmakshetra Kurukshetra refers also, respectively, to religious and spiritual duties and activities (those of the yogi in meditation) as contrasted with mundane responsibilities and activities. Thus, in this deeper
metaphysical interpretation, Dharmakshetra Kurukshetra signifies the inner bodily field on which the spiritual action of yoga meditation takes place for the attainment of Self-realization: the plain of the cerebrospinal axis and its seven subtle centers of life and divine consciousness.
Competing on this field are two opposing forces or magnetic poles: discriminative intelligence (buddhi) and the sense-conscious mind (manas). Buddhi, the pure discriminating intellect, is allegorically represented as Pandu, husband of Kunti (the mother of Arjuna and the other Pandava princes who uphold the righteous principles of nivritti, renunciation of worldliness)
Manas is allegorically represented as the blind King Dhritarashtra, sire of the one hundred Kurus, or sensory impressions and inclinations, which are all bent toward pravritti, worldly enjoyment. Buddhi draws its right discernment from the superconsciousness of the soul manifesting in the causal seats of consciousness in the spiritual cerebrospinal centers. Manas, the sense mind, the subtle magnetic pole turned outward toward the world of matter, is in the pons Varolii, which physiologically is ever busy with sensory coordination.1 Thus, buddhi intelligence draws the consciousness toward truth or the eternal realities,consciousness from truth and engages it in the external sensory activities of
the body, and thus with the world of delusive relativities, maya.
The mind (manas, or sense consciousness) gives coordination to the senses as the reins keep together the several horses of a chariot. The body is the chariot; the soul is the owner of the chariot; intelligence is the
charioteer; the senses are the horses. The mind is said to be blind because it cannot see without the help of the senses and intelligence. The reins of a chariot receive and relay the impulses from the steeds and the guidance of the charioteer. Similarly, the blind mind on its own neither cognizes nor exerts guidance, but merely receives the impressions from the senses and relays the conclusions and instructions of the intelligence. If the intelligence is governed by buddhi, the pure discriminative power, the senses are
controlled; if the intelligence is ruled by material desires, the senses are wild and unruly.
Thoughts may be present without one’s conscious awareness. Introspection is that power of intuition by which the consciousness can watch its thoughts. It does not reason, it feels—not with biased emotion, but with clear, calm intuition.
In the Mahabharata, of which the Bhagavad Gita is a part, the text of the Gita is introduced by the great rishi (sage) Vyasa bestowing on Sanjaya the spiritual power of being able to see from a distance everything taking place over the entire battlefield, so that he could give an account to the blind King Dhritarashtra as the events unfold. Therefore, one would expect the king’s enquiry in the first verse to be in the present tense. Author Vyasa purposely had Sanjaya narrate the Gita dialogue retrospectively, and used a past tense of the verb (“What did they?”), as a clear hint to discerning students that the Gita is referring only incidentally to a historical battle on the plain of Kurukshetra in northern India. Primarily, Vyasa is describing a universal battle—the one that rages daily in man’s life. Had Vyasa wished merely to report the progress of an actual battle that was taking place at the moment on the field of Kurukshetra, he would have had Dhritarashtra speak to the messenger Sanjaya in the present tense: “My children and the sons of Pandu—what are they doing now?”
2. Shloka 2 (Chapter 1, Verse 2)
Sanskrit:
सञ्जय उवाच |
दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस्तदा |
आचार्यमुपसङ्गम्य राजा वचनमब्रवीत् || 2 ||
Transliteration:
Sañjaya uvācha:
Dṛiṣhṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanastadā,
Āchāryam upasaṅgamya rājā vachanam abravīt.
Translation:
Sanjaya said: At that time, King Duryodhana, seeing the Pandava army arranged in military formation, approached his teacher Dronacharya and spoke these words.
3. Shloka 3 (Chapter 1, Verse 3)
Sanskrit:
पश्यैतां पाण्डुपुत्राणामाचार्य महतीं चमूम् |
व्यूढां द्रुपदपुत्रेण तव शिष्येण धीमता || 3 ||
Transliteration:
Paśhyaitāṁ pāṇḍu-putrāṇām āchārya mahatīṁ chamūm,
Vyūḍhāṁ drupada-putreṇa tava śhiṣhyeṇa dhīmatā.
Translation:
Behold, O teacher, this mighty army of the sons of Pandu, arranged in military formation by your intelligent disciple, the son of Drupada.
4. Shloka 4 (Chapter 1, Verse 4)
Sanskrit:
अत्र शूरा महेष्वासा भीमार्जुनसमा युधि |
युयुधानो विराटश्च द्रुपदश्च महारथः || 4 ||
Transliteration:
Atra śhūrā maheṣhvāsā bhīmārjuna-samā yudhi,
Yuyudhāno virāṭaśhcha drupadaśhcha mahārathaḥ.
Translation:
Here in this army are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhima and Arjuna: great warriors like Yuyudhana, Virata, and Drupada, the mighty chariot-warrior.
5. Shloka 5 (Chapter 1, Verse 5)
Sanskrit: धृष्टकेतुश्चेकितानः काशिराजश्च वीर्यवान् | पुरुजित्कुन्तिभोजश्च शैब्यश्च नरपुङ्गवः || 5 ||
Transliteration: Dhṛiṣhṭaketuśh chekitānaḥ kāśhirājaśhcha vīryavān,
Purujit kuntibhojaśhcha śhaibyaśhcha nara-puṅgavaḥ.
Translation: There are also great, heroic, and mighty warriors like Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, and the valorous king of Kashi; Purujit, Kuntibhoja, and the noble king Shaibya.
6. Shloka 6 (Chapter 1, Verse 6)
Sanskrit: युधामन्युश्च विक्रान्त उत्तमौजाश्च वीर्यवान् | सौभद्रो द्रौपदेयाश्च सर्व एव महारथाः || 6 ||
Transliteration: Yudhāmanyuśhcha vikrānta uttamaujāśhcha vīryavān,
Saubhadro draupadeyāśhcha sarva eva mahārathāḥ.
Translation: The powerful Yudhamanyu and the valiant Uttamauja; the son of Subhadra (Abhimanyu), and the sons of Draupadi—all great warriors.