Bhagavad-Gita 1-4

Atra shoora mahaShwasa bheemarjuna samayudhi

Yuyudhaano viraatascha drupadascha maharathaha ||4||

"There are great courageous warriors who are equivalent to Bheema and Arjuna like Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada."

Duryodhana knows that Bheema and Arjuna are the key opponents. They are the gold standards against whom he compares all other warriors. And moreover they are at the centre of his thoughts, especially Bheema whim he tried to eliminate since childhood and who turns out to be the terminator of the entire Kauravas and the real hero of Kurukshetra war.

Of all the people, the first name he mentions is that of Yuyudhana. Yuyudhana also known as Satyaki was a great warrior, a close friend and devotee of Lord Krishna and the only Yadava other than Krishna to be on Pandavas side. There is a story both Duryodhana and Arjuna had approached Krishna before the start of the war to woe him on their side. Knowing this Krishna pretended to be sleeping. Duryodhana came first and sat near his head end and then arrived Arjuna who sat near his foot end. It was natural that as soon as Krishna opened his eyes he saw Arjuna and spoke to him. When Arjuna told that he came to ask for his help, Duryodhana immediately told Krishna that he had come first and that Krishna should offer his support to him. But wise Krishna told that when he opened his eyes he first saw Arjuna. He told that they can either choose Lord Krishna or his entire army but the first choice would go to Arjuna as he saw Arjuna first. Duryodhana was overwhelmed with joy when Arjuna chose Lord Krishna because he would get the support of mighty Yadava army. But Satyaki decided for himself that in this Dharmayuddha (Battle for righteousness) he would fight on the side of Pandavas. The pinch that Satyaki, a great warrior, instead of being on his side is on the other side probably made Duryodhana put him first on the list.

Then he mentions Virata. Pandavas hid in his kingdom during Agnaatavasa (the 13^th year after finishing 12 years of vanavasa). Virata is not known to be a powerful king as he was subdued by his brother-in-law Keechaka, who was killed by Bheema. But still Virata is second in the list of Duryodhana probably because he felt that Virata came in his way of identifying the Pandavas during agnatavasa. Had he found them, then the war would have postponed by at least another 13 years as Pandavas had to do their second round of Vanavasa and agnathavasa.

The third name is that of Drupada. Duryodhana was worried if he would get the full support of Drona as all his favourite pupils, especially Arjuna was on the other side. That is why he brings Drupada again and again into picture to remind Dronacharya that it is his personal war too and he cannot falter or change sides at this time.

 

Bhagavad-Gita 1-3

Paschaitaam Panduputrena aachaarya mahateeM chamoom

yooDaam drupada putrENa tava shishyEna dheemataa ||3||

"Look at the mighty army of the Pandavas which has been organized by your able pupil the son of Drupada"

Drishtadyumna - the son of Drupada was the Commander-in-chief (CIC) of the mighty Pandavas army. Drupada and Drona were childhood friends when they were at the gurukul of Sage Bharadwaj. Drupada had promised him half his kingdom once he occupies the throne. Later when Drona turns up and asks for half the kingdom Drupada humiliates him and throws him away.  Drona temporarily retreats but did not forget the humiliation. Drona trains Pandavas and with the help of them defeats Drupada, holds him as prisoner, takes away half the kingdom and humiliates him before he releases him. Drupada performs Putrakaameshti Yagna and gets Drishtadyumna as his son who was destined to kill Dronacharya. Though Drishtadyumna was destined to kill Drona, he did not turn him away when he came to his gurukul to learn from him as he thought it was his duty to teach anybody who came to his doors to learn. Duryodhana tries to freshen up the old wounds when he reiterates that the CIC of Pandavas army is Drupada's son.  He probably wanted to say that Drona was not just fighting for Duryodhana but was fighting his personal war too. He also reminds that he should not be generous again in this war against his enemies who were his pupils.

{* The words Aneekam and Chamoom have been used for describing the army of Pandavas. The composition of the armies is described as in the table below:

Name for Army Stages	Charriots	Elephants	Soldiers	Horses
Patti	1	1	5	3
Senamukha	3	3	15	9
Gulma	9	9	45	27
Gana	27	27	135	81
Vahini	81	81	405	261
Prutana	261	261	1215	783
Chamoo	783	783	3645	2349
Aneekini	2349	2349	10935	70470
Akshouhini	23490	23490	109350	704700

Bhagavad-Gita 1-2

Then Sanjaya responds:

DrushTvaatu panDavaaneekam YooDam duryodhanastada

aacharyamupasaMgamya raja vachanamabraveet ||2||

"Looking at the arrangement of the Pandavas army, King Duryodhana goes to his guru Dronacharya and spoke the following words."

The author of Bhagavad-Gita wants to tell us about the very important conversation between Krishna and Arjuna. But in that eagerness he did not jump to their conversation directly. He had to answer the question asked by Dhritarashtra. Sanjaya knows that Dhritarashtra is interested in none other than Duryodhana as he is the personification of his ego; his only means to achieve his dreams. He couldn’t have proceeded any further without answering this question. This is an important lesson in communication too- first one has to answer the question asked and can speak other things later whatever may be the importance one attaches to the other things in comparison with the question asked.

Other points which are interesting are:

A.    Sanjaya uses the title of King for Duryodhana though Dhritaraashtra was the King.

B.    Duryodhana looking at the Pandavas army discusses with Drona and not Bheeshma who was the Commander-in-Chief (CIC).

The possible explanations why the title King was used would be:

1.     It would bring happiness to King Dhritaraashtra

2.     It indicates that Duryodhana might win the war - which is what Dhritaraashtra wanted to hear.

3.     It indicates that Duryodhana was in control though Dhritaraashtra was the king

4.     It might mean that Duryodhana was the personification of Dhritaraashtra's ego and that both Dhritaraashtra and Duryodhana were one and the same.

Any of the above may be right or it is possible that there might be another valid explanation.

The reasons for talking to Drona and not Bheeshma may be:

1.     He had better rapport with Drona than with Bheeshma because:

a.     Drona was his guru and he interacted with him since childhood more often than Bheesma, who was away at war most of the times expanding and protecting the kingdom.

b.     Drona was the father of one of his best friends Ashwatthama.

2.     It shows diplomacy of Duryodhana. Many in this war had chosen their sides because of many political and personal compulsions and not by choice. Drona was on Kauravas side because of his loyalty to Dhritaraashtra whereas Bhishma was there because of his vow to protect the king of Hastinapur. Again, Bhishma was made the CIC because of political compulsions and not by choice. Duryodhana needed to speak to others and keep them in the loop, especially Drona who was next in line to become CIC. These great warriors were reluctant warriors in this Great War. This highlights the fragility within the mighty Kaurava army.

            With this background I was trying to reason out the compulsions of Dronacharya to fight for Kauravas rather than Pandavas.

1.     His loyalty towards Dhritarashtra because he was his employee.

2.     His personal fight against Drupada. Drupada was his childhood friend turned foe. He was father-in-law of Arjuna and hence was fighting on Pandavas' side. He could not be on the same side as his foe. Kurukshetra war was also his personal war against Drupada.

3.     Third and the main reason was his blind affection towards his son Ashwatthama. Ashwattama was a close friend of Duryodhana. He was very sure in his mind that he would fight for Duryodhana come what may. If Drona had chosen Dharma he would have been in a situation where he would be pitched against his own son. Similar to Dhritaraashtra, Drona was probably blinded by his attachment to his son. It was this weakness that Lord Krishna utilizes later in the war to emotionally perturb and distract Dronacharya.

Bhagavad-Gita 1-1

I am trying to analyze Bhagavad-Gita as a literary work rather than as a divine message from God himself. Because I am not trained in Sanskrit, the limitation of my analysis will be that I need to understand the shlokas either in Kannada or English. I try to understand the literal meaning of the shlokas - Shabdartha - both from the translation of the individual words or the entire shlokas with the help of previous translations and discussions with some of my friends who know Sanskrit and try to analyze myself what the author wants to convey - the Bhavartha - the meaning of the shloka which is the soul of any literary work. Words are only a means of communication and not an end in itself. This will be one more attempt by one more person from his own perspective to get to the soul of Gita; an attempt to understand the mind of the author. In this process even if we get a glimpse of the shell of the soul, I think it is worth the effort.  The chances are more that I may misinterpret in spite of my efforts. Hopefully the comments by the readers of this blog will lead us to the right path. I only hope that I be blessed with at least a fraction of patience and perseverance of the author (of Gita) to compete what I have started. Let us hope that we become a Sanjaya or an Arjuna who were able to understand the essence of the Gita and not Dhritarashtra who remained blind both in eyes and mind even after listening to Gita from Sanjaya.

In the first shloka of Bhagavadgeeta Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya:

Dharamakshetre Kurukhshetre samaveta yuyutsava

Maamakaha pandavaaschaiva kima kurvatu sanjaya ||1||

This is the only shloka told by Dhritaraashtra in the entire Bhagavad-Gita. He asks" Dear Sanjaya, What are my people and pandavas doing at Dharmakshetra Kurukshetra, who have assembled there with the desire for a battle?"

It is interesting that the author starts Bhagavad-Gita with this shloka.

1.     It does not start with Arjuna's indecisiveness but with the anxiety of Dhritaraashtra who is eager to know what is happening in the battlefield. He probably wants to tell us that the anxiety, confusion, indecisiveness are at multiple levels and not just involving Arjuna.

2.     The question is asked by Dhritaraashtra who was blind not only physically but also blind by his thought. His desire for the power for himself and for his heirs had blinded him to an extent that he was unable to differentiate between the just and the unjust. He asks this question to Sanjaya who had the boon of divine vision. What a contrast! He also probably wants to convey that the prerequisite to understand Gita is to have an open mind. Even though Sanjaya tells verbatim the entire Gita, Dhritaraashtra was unable to comprehend it. We are safe to presume he did not comprehend Gita because even after listening to entire Gita, he neither changed his thought process nor walked on the just path.

Dharmakshetre Kurukshetre - He does not say just Kurukshetre. He says Dharmekshetre too.  He knows that this is a battle for Dharma. He probably knows that Dharma will prevail. He is anxious to know what is happening at the battlefield because he has the fear that Duryodhana may lose this battle because this is Dharmayuddha.

Maamakaha pandavaaschaiva - My people (my children) and pandavas; kima kurvatu what are they doing? While saying this author makes the intention of Dhritaraashtra very clear that he does not consider Pandavas as his own though they are his nephews. This is in contrast with Arjuna's indecisiveness before the battle where he thinks that he has to fight and kill his own people. There is no indecisiveness when one is either completely ignorant (like Dhritaraashtra) or wise (like Lord Krishna). All others are in the same boat as Arjuna unable to decide the right path of life.