SRIMAD BHAGAVAD GITA - Esamskriti.com

After noticing the principal warriors on both the sides, Arjuna falls into the mood ofdeep dejection and melancholy due to the fear of destruction of friends and relativesin the course of the impending war leading to his resolve not to take up arms againsthis kith and kin. This is the subject matter of this Chapter and hence it is called“Arjuna Vishaada Yogah: The Yoga of the Despondency of ArjunaThe TextTHE QUESTIONdhritaraashtra uvaachadharmakshetre kurukshetre samavetaa yuyutsavahmaamakaah paandavaashchaiva kimakurvata sanjaya // 1.1 //Dhritarashtra saidWhat did the sons of Pandu and also my people do when they assembled together onthe holy field of Kurukshetra, eager to fight, O Sanjaya?In the entire Gita this is the only uttering of the blind king, Dhritarashtra. All theremaining verses are Sanjaya`s report to him about the happenings at the battlefield ofKurukshetra just before the war.The battlefield is called dharmakshetra or the sacred field because The Lord who isthe protector and embodiment of Dharma was actively present in it. Kurukshetrameans the field of the Kurus, a leading clan of that era. This question of Dhritarashtraexhibits a sense of anxiety in him on two counts. If Pandavas decide not to undertakethe war, his sons will automatically get the kingdom and in such an event, the stigmaof waging the unrighteous war might not stick to his covetous and deceitful sons. Ifhis sons decide not to wage the war they will lose the kingdom that was earlieracquired by them through deceit, because of which they will be as good as dead. Suchwas the anxiety in the king’s mind because of the greatness and spiritual atmosphereof the field of battle.Mamakaah : My people. And ‘Pandu’s sons’. - This sort of divisive reference to oneand the same family members indicates the absence of the sense of familiarity andcloseness with regard to the Pandavas and thereby betrays hostility towards them.This sense of a pair of opposites ‘mine-ness’ and ‘not mine-ness’ is the result ofahamkara or `I - ness' which is the source of all evil. The conflict between the twocousin groups represents the clash between two sets of values of life - one standingfor virtue, justice and righteousness staking a legitimate claim for the kingdom lostthrough deceit and treachery and the other for vice, injustice, greed, hunger for powerand the foul means employed to justify the ends. It indirectly indicates that life itselfis a battle between good and evil.TWO ARMIESsanjaya uvaachadrishtwaa tu paandavaaneekam vyoodham duryodhanastadaaaachaaryam upasamgamya raajaa vachanam abraveet // 1.2 //