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The Scene; Theme; and Characters.1393
one side; and on the other side was the hosts of the Pandus, led by the
five Pandu princes. The active command of the Kuru army was vested in
Bhishma, the oldest war-chief of his faction; the Pandu army being led by
Bhima, a renowned warrior. Arjuna, one of the five Pandu princes, and
one of the leading characters in the story, was present at the battle with his
brothers, and was accompanied in his war chariot by the human incarnation
of The Supreme Spirit—Krishna, the latter having become the friend and
companion of Arjuna as a reward for the fortitude with which the latter had
borne his persecutions, and as a recognition for the nobility of character
displayed by him.
The battle was opened by Bhishma, the Kuru chieftain, blowing his great
war-shell or conch, to the sound of which his followers joined with the
blare of their battle shells and horns. Arjuna, and the Pandu host answer
the challenge with mighty blasts. The fight then begins with great flights of
arrows, in which both sides exert themselves to the utmost. Arjuna, at the
beginning of the battle, asks Krishna to drive his chariot to a position where
he may witness the two contending parties. From the desired position
Arjuna surveys the two battle lines, and is overcome with horror at the sight
of blood relatives and friends opposing each other in the two contending
armies. He sees dear ones on both sides, seeking each other’s blood. He is
overcome with the thought of the horror of the fratricidal war, and, throwing
down his weapons, he declares that he would rather die without defending
himself, than be the cause of the death of his kinsmen on the other side.
Krishna replies with subtle philosophical discourse, which forms the greater
part of the episode of the epic, called the Bhagavad Gita, the poem or story
which is offered to your consideration in this little book. Arjuna is made to
see the weakness of his position, judged from the absolute point-of-view,
and he consents to play his part in the drama. The battle finally results in the
overthrow of the Kurus, or elder branch, and the triumph of the Pandus, or
younger branch, the latter being Arjuna’s party.