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.