[ The Kaurava and the Pandava armies have gathered on the holy field of Kurukshetra to do battle. Dhritrashtra, the blind king, is sitting far away in his palace at Hastinapur, along with his trusted companion Sanjaya.
The previous night the sage Ved Vyas had come and given the gift of divine sight to Sanjaya, so that sitting at Hastinapur, far away from the scene of battle, he could still see the events as they took place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, and narrate them to Dhritrashtra.
It is Sanjaya who actually narrates the Gita, the dialogue that takes place between Krishna and Arjuna, to Dhritrashtra.
In the Gita that follows, Lord Krishna is also referred to as Keshava, Vasudeva, and Hari; and Arjuna is also called Partha]
The first chapter describes the field of battle and Arjuna's mental condition. Duryodhana names the principal warriors in both the opposing armies. Both sides blow their conches, their war bugles. Just before the war is about to begin, Arjuna asks Lord Krishna to take his chariot and place it between the two armies, so that he could see the people he has to fight.
Seeing his Grandsire, his teachers, his kinsmen, and his friends in the opposing army, at the thought of having to fight and kill them in battle, Arjuna panics. He is overcome with doubt, misgivings, pity, and remorse, and refuses to fight. He puts down his bow and arrows and, despondent, sits down in his chariot.
CHAPTER
Dhritrashtra asks Sanjaya: Dear Sanjaya, when my sons, and the sons of Pandu, gathered for battle, on the holy field of Kurukshetra, what did they do?
Sanjaya replied: Sire, when Duryodhana saw the Pandava army drawn up in battle formation, he went to his guru, his teacher Drona and said :
Teacher, look at this vast army of the sons of Pandu, positioned for battle, by your very own and intelligent pupil, Drishtadyumna.
In this army there are many warriors who are equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna, such as Satyaki, Virat, Drupad, Drishtaketu, Chekitana, the king of Kasi, Purujit, Kuntibhoja, Saibya, Yudhamanyu, Uttamauja, Abhimanyu, and the five sons of Draupadi, all great warriors.
Now let me tell you about the main warriors of our army, its leaders. You, yourself Teacher, grandsire Bhishma, Kripacharya, Karna, Vikarna, Asvatthama, and Bhurishrava, all of whom are capable of taking us to victory.
In addition to these, there are many other great warriors, who have staked their wealth, and their very lives for my sake. They are all well armed and skilled in battle.
Grandsire Bhishma protects our army while the Pandava army is protected by Bhima. Though our army is larger than the Pandava army, yet it appears to be weaker than their's. Therefore, all of you, stationed in your various columns, hold your positions firmly, and protect the Grandsire strongly from all sides.
Then to cheer up Duryodhana, Grandsire Bhishma roared like a lion, and blew his conch very loudly, after which, from all sides of the battlefield conches, cymbals, kettle-drums, and horns were sounded, all of which created a very loud and tumultuous noise.
Then, in reply, Lord Krishna, Arjuna, and all the Pandavas blew their respective celestial conches. The other great warriors in the Pandava army blew their conches as well.
The terrible noise and blare of these conches echoed through the earth and the sky, and rent the hearts of the Kuru host, creating fear in them.
Arjuna rode a special chariot. It was yoked with white horses, the God Hanuman was on the flag of his chariot, and Lord Krishna, God Incarnate himself, was Arjuna's sarathi, his chariot driver.
When the fighting was about to begin, Arjuna, looking at the Kaurava army said to Krishna :
O Keshava, drive my chariot, and place it in the middle of both the armies, in front of the Kaurava army, so that I may see the people I have to fight.
I would like to see all the people who have come as the Kaurava's allies, and who would be siding with the evil Duryodhana in this war, to do him good.
At Arjuna's so asking, Lord Krishna drove that special chariot between the two armies, and placed it in front of Bhishma, Drona, and the other kings and said :
Partha, look carefully at all these Kauravas gathered here. These are the people you have to fight in this war.
And what did Arjuna see? In both the armies, Arjuna saw Grandsires, he saw Teachers, he saw Maternal Uncles, he saw Cousins, he saw sons, he saw grandsons, he saw Fathers in law, he saw Friends and well wishers.
When Arjuna saw all these kinsmen, friends, and well wishers standing ready for battle against him, he suffers a crisis of conscience. He is overcome by pity, remorse and doubt, and, with sadness in his heart says :
O Keshava, seeing these relatives and friends of mine, eager to do battle, my limbs fail me, my mouth dries up, my hair stands on end, my bow, the mighty Gandiva, slips from my hands, my whole skin burns, my mind reels, I feel dizzy, and I cannot even stand.
I see adverse omens, too. I see no good in killing our own kith and kin, in killing our friends and well wishers.
I do not want victory or kingdom. I do not want pleasures, or enjoyments. I do not even want happiness.
What would we do with such kingdom, with such pleasures, and with such enjoyments, or even with life itself, when those, for whose sake we desire all these, those very teachers, those very grandsires, maternal uncles, sons, grandsons, and other kinsmen, are all standing here, having given up their attachment to their wealth and their life.
They stand here ready to die in this war. With all of them dead victory, would have no meaning for us, it would be hollow, and meaningless.
I would not want to kill them even if I were to get lordship over all the three worlds, much less for the measly kingdom of this world, even though they kill me instead.
What good would we gain by killing the sons of Dhritrashtra? Killing these people would only cover us with sin. Therefore, it is not proper for us to kill the sons of Dhritrashtra, our very own kinsmen. How could we ever be happy by killing our own people, our own kith and kin?
It is true that they are blinded by greed, because of which they are unable to see the sin of ruining family, and of turning against friends.
But we are not blinded by greed, and we can clearly see the sin of ruining the family and the race. Therefore, we, at least should have the good sense, and the understanding, to stay away from committing such a sin.
It is said that on the destruction of a race, the prevailing ancient customs and traditions get destroyed; and when these get destroyed, evil and sin overtakes the family, and when evil and sin prevail, then the women of the family get corrupted.
When the women get corrupted, intermingling and mixing of the castes takes place, and this intermingling and mixing of the castes, takes the whole family, along with the destroyer of the family, to hell, because the ancestors of those families, deprived of the customary rites of pinda, deprived of the offering of rice balls, of the offering of food and water, fall from their high place in heaven.
And because of these evils and sins, the ancient laws governing race and family are both destroyed.
And we have heard, as passed down by tradition, that those people whose family and race laws have been destroyed, they are forced to live in hell.
O, we are so ready and keen to commit this terrible sin, this carnage of killing our own kinsmen just for the greed of enjoying the pleasures of a kingdom! How can we even think of doing such a terrible deed?
It would be far better for me if the sons of Dhritrashtra, weapons in hand, were to kill me, I remaining unarmed, and unresisting.
Having said this, Arjuna laid down his bow and arrows, and with a sad and dejected mind sat down in his chariot.
End of Chapter one
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om
Simple and effective
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