The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we’ve witnessed everything in readiness for the war to commence. The “Shankams” (Sirens) of all the key warriors in the battlefield on both sides go off with a great sound, which creates a lot of reverberations in the atmosphere around them! Bhagawan Krishna too blows His “Paanchajanyam” aloud to add to the deafening sound that is being produced! The moment Duryodhana hears the “Paanchajanyam”, a kind of fear grips him as he gets ready to fight the battle. Meanwhile, as all the “Shankams” go off, Arjuna has a sudden thought in his mind. He wants to have a closer look at both the armies before he commences the battle. Hence, he orders Bhagawan Krishna who is his charioteer to take him to the middle of the battlefield. Accordingly, Bhagawan Krishna obeys Arjuna’s words, but He has other thoughts in His mind already! 🙂 He drives the chariot to a strategic location from where Arjuna could see the entire army at a stretch from that point itself! Thus, Arjuna casts a look around him, even as Bhagawan Krishna is observing him keenly! 

As we see here, Bhagawan Krishna strategically chooses a location wherein the chariot goes and stands right in front of Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya. We might wonder here – Why didn’t Bhagawan Krishna stop the chariot in front of Duryodhana and Ducchaasana? Why did He select Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya? Had Bhagawan Krishna rode the chariot in front of Duryodhana and Ducchaasana, there would have been no Bhagawad Gita at all! 🙂 The moment Arjuna would have seen these two people closely, the war would have begun then and there and Arjuna would have chopped off both their heads! He would have immediately remembered that dreadful scene of the Hastinapura courtroom where Draupati was insulted publicly and how Ducchaasana mercilessly unstripped her in front of everyone! With this very thought, Arjuna would have seized his arrows and his Gaandeepa would have been employed with full force then and there! However, Bhagawan Krishna has other plans, isn’t it? He wanted to somehow pull down Arjuna emotionally, so that He can use Arjuna to gift the divine Bhagawad Gita to the entire world! Bhagawan Krishna is a divine strategist! He knows exactly what He is doing! 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a question on similar lines – Why is Bhagawan Krishna obeying Arjuna’s orders? It should be the other way round, isn’t it? The answer is here in this episode – Only if Bhagawan Krishna would have obeyed Arjuna’s orders to steer the chariot in between the two armies, we would have obtained the Bhagawad Gita today! Had it been the opposite – That is – If Bhagawan would have replied back thus, “Oh Arjuna! I’m the Paramatman! You’ve to obey my words and I would not obey yours!” – What would have happened? Arjuna might not have argued much, as he too knows that Bhagawan Krishna is all-pervasive and the supreme. Thus, Arjuna would have gone nowhere and the war would have begun. But what about the Bhagawad Gita? How would it come? Thus, we can clearly see here that if Bhagawan obeys the words of the “Jeevatma”, there is something behind it clearly! 

Thus, coming back to this discussion, Bhagawan Krishna strategically steers the chariot and parks it right in front of Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya. Upon seeing both of them standing amidst the enemy camp, Arjuna’s emotions start to change! Until this point, he was extremely ferocious and was ready to go for the kill, irrespective of whoever was standing on the opposite side. However, the moment he sees these two senior people in front of him, Arjuna’s thought process starts to change! So what is this change? What is Arjuna thinking now? An interesting accord awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of the war as Bhishmachaarya is now blowing his “Shankam” (Siren) aloud, in a way that the entire Kurukshetra-Bhoomi is able to hear it. In return, all the other important warriors who are assembled there are also taking out their respective “Shankams” and start blowing them aloud. In those days, the sound of the “Shankam” in the battlefield indicates the readiness of both the camps which are rearing to have a go upon each other! In this way, it is in all readiness now for the war to commence. Finally, Bhagawan Krishna too takes out His “Shankam” called “Paanchajanya” and blows it aloud, in an indication that Arjuna is also all set for the commencement of the war. 

“Paanchajanyam rishikeshaha deva dattan dhananjayaha!

Poundrou dadhmou mahaa shankam bheemakarma vrukodharaha!!”

Thus, as Bhagawan Krishna blows His “Paanchajanya”, Arjuna too signals his readiness by blowing his divine “Shankam” called “Deva-Datta”. In turn, Bheemasena takes out his “Shankam” called “Poundrum” and blows it aloud. However, as the “Shankams” of the Paandavas go aloud one after the other and as Bhagawan Krishna’s “Paanchajanya” too joining the sounds, the hearts of Duryodhana and Co. start shivering with fear! Explaining this to King Dhritarashtra, Sanjaya says thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! You had asked me about the status of your son Duryodhana in the battlefield, didn’t you? The moment Bhagawan Krishna took out His “Paanchajanya” and blew it, the sound went into all the four directions, echoed and came back to haunt Duryodhana badly! Thus, even before the war commenced, Duryodhana almost lost his confidence that he was going to make any impact in this! Oh King Dhritarashtra! Still the war hasn’t commenced yet. But even before that, if Duryodhana is going to shake with fear upon merely hearing Bhagawan Krishna’s “Paanchajanya”, how on earth is he going to win this war against the Paandavas?”

Meanwhile, as all things are in readiness, Arjuna positions his divine “Gaandeepa” in front of him on his chariot and orders Bhagawan Krishna thus, “Oh Bhagawan Krishna! Please take our chariot and park it in between both the armies. I want to see who are all standing on either side in closeness! Hence, let us go to the middle of the battlefield and have a look!” As Arjuna orders thus, our Aachaaryas enter into a lot of debates in their commentaries. Their only point of concern was this – “Who is ordering whom here?” An ordinary “Jeevatma” called “Arjuna” is ordering a “Paramatma” called Bhagawan Krishna! How is this even possible on this earth? Thus, Arjuna continues further, “Oh Bhagawan Krishna! I want to have a look at who all the key warriors are on both sides. With this, we can strategize our plans better, can’t we?” 

As Arjuna says thus, Bhagawan Krishna smiles beamingly and starts the chariot. As per Arjuna’s “instruction”, Bhagawan drives the chariot right in the middle of the entire gathering. Strategically too, He stops the chariot right in front of the place where Bhishmachaarya and Guru Dhronachaarya are standing on their respective chariots! Now, isn’t this a divine “Sankalpa” of Bhagawan Krishna to make Arjuna panic? Having said thus, what is Arjuna going to do now? Is he going to gain confidence upon seeing the Kaurava army closeby, or, is he going to panic? Stay tuned for an important update in the next episode! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of Sanjaya’s lengthy accord on the war proceedings, which is taking place at Kurukshetra. Meanwhile, we had also witnessed an important point as to why the Kurukshetra Bhoomi is referred to as “Dharma-Kshetra”. This is solely because this place was the host to the war between “Dharma” and “Adharma” and the resultant of the war being the victory of “Dharma”. Also, since Bhagawan Krishna Himself physically conducted the war between the two camps and also since Bhagawan gifted the holy Bhagawad Gita in this particular place to Arjuna, this Kurukshetra Bhoomi is an epitome of “Dharma”. Now as Sanjaya starts explaining the war proceedings, he commences his explanation right from the first day when all of them have assembled at Kurukshetra. At this point, Duryodhana asks an important question to Guru Dhronachaarya – Whether we would be able to win this war! This question has been interpreted in many different ways by many Aachaaryas in subsequent generations and most of them conclude that Duryodhana is not asking this question out of confidence, but out of fear of losing the war! 

Moving on thus, we now see the fear in Duryodhana’s mind as he compares Bhishmachaarya’s leadership versus Bheemasena’s leadership. But is Bheemasena really leading the army of the Paandavas? Duryodhana should have taken Drishtradhyumna’s name, isn’t it? But why is he taking Bheemasena’s name here? The in-depth meaning here is as follows – On one hand, here is Bhishmachaarya, who may be extremely powerful, but has taken a “Prathignya” (Resolution) that no matter what happens, he wouldn’t kill the five Paandava brothers. Whereas, on the other hand, here is Bheemasena who has taken a brutal “Prathignya” that no matter what happens, he wouldn’t rest unless and until he kills Duryodhana and all his ninety-nine brothers! We can see the contrast here, isn’t it? Hence, amidst these two people, how am I going to win this war in my favour? This is what Duryodhana’s fear is all about! 

Thus, with this fear ripe in Duryodhana’s mind, even before the war commences, Bhishmachaarya is now ready to announce the commencement of the war. He takes his “Shanka” (Siren) and is about to blow it, as a signal for commencing the war. 

“Tasya sanjanaya bharsham kuruvruttah pitaa mahaha!

Simhanaadham vinadyoschaihi shangam dadnou prathaapavaan!!”

Now if we see this shloka’s structure, it might seem a bit funny here – “Tasya sanjanaya bharsham” means, “Bhishmachaarya blows the “Shankam” to invoke joy in Duryodhana!” But we’ve seen just now that Duryodhana is in a state of fear. We’ve to understand one thing very clearly here – If I’ve to make someone happy, that someone should be in some kind of distress, isn’t it? Else, why should I make someone happy who is already happy? Hence, we can clearly understand here that if Bhishmachaarya is trying to make Duryodhna happy, it means that Duryodhana is in some kind of a fear and trouble. Hence, in order to motivate Duryodhana, Bhishmachaarya is taking his “Shankam” in his hand and is blowing it in full force. 

As Bhishmachaarya blows his “Shankam” loud, the sound resonates on all four corners of the battlefield. It is a clear signal that all of them should get ready for the war. The fight is about to begin. At this time, Bhagawan Krishna is also going to take out His “Paanchajanyam” to blow it aloud, in acknowledgement of Bhishmachaarya’s “Shankam”. In similar lines, all the other important warriors in both the camps take out their respective “Shankams” and start blowing them, as a token of readiness for the war to begin! So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness the continuation of what happened next! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed King Dhritarashtra commence the proceedings of the Bhagawad Gita, by asking an important question to Sanjaya. King Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya as to what is happening currently at Kurukshetra which is a very important Kshetra of “Dharma”. In fact, the place called Kurukshetra is referred to as “Dharma-Kshetra” in this shloka because, this is the place which is going to decide whether “Dharma” should win or not. At a time when “Dharma” is experiencing a huge downfall, courtesy, Duryodhana and Co. Bhagawan has to fulfil the main purpose of His divine incarnation, doesn’t He? Hence, Bhagawan Krishna decides to be physically present during the war at Kurukshetra and the main purpose here is to ensure that “Dharma” attains victory over “Adharma”. Hence, since Kurukshetra is the place where “Dharma” attains the necessary victory, it is referred to as the “Dharma-Kshetra”. Thus, in this “Dharma-Kshetra”, referred to as “Kurukshetra”, what are my sons and the Paandavas doing? This is what King Dhritarashtra is asking Sanjaya, and for this, Sanjaya is going to give a detailed reply. Let us commence Sanjaya’s accord in this episode. 

As Sanjaya commences his accord, he says thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! You’ve asked an important question here and let me begin from this place. Now this is day one of the Kurukshetra war and everybody has assembled and taken their respective places. You had asked what your son Duryodhana was doing, didn’t you? Now let me tell you – Your son Duryodhana is looking around to see how the Drishtadhyumna-led Paandava army is waiting on the other side to go for the kill. Upon seeing the mammoth army of the Paandavas, Duryodhana starts feeling jittery! He is beginning to panic straightaway. On one hand, the Kaurava army is being led by the powerful Bhishmachaarya himself and on the other hand, even though Drishtadhyumna might have been the leader, the real leader is Bhagawan Krishna, who is seated in one corner upon Arjuna’s chariot as his charioteer. Upon taking the first survey of the entire army thus, a lot of thoughts run in Duryodhana’s mind. Hence, he straightaway goes to Guru Dhronachaarya without wasting any time. Duryodhana asks thus, “Oh Guru Dhronachaarya! The Paandava army standing on the opposite side is quite limited in size (“Pariyaartham”), whereas, our army is completely limitless and is mammoth in size (“Apariyaartham”)! Our side is led by Bhishmachaarya and he is the one with the responsibility to protect and lead all of us. On the other side, Bheemasena is extremely strong and he can singlehandedly take the responsibility of protecting everyone! Hence, how do we go ahead and win this war?” 

This question from Duryodhana – If we see this from an outward sense, it might show his confidence. He says that his army is countless and limitless, led by the powerful Bhishmachaarya, whereas, the Paandava army is not that great, with Bheemasena being the powerful person trying to protect them. However, if we take references from various commentaries of either Adi-Shankara Bhagawad Paada, Saint Ramanuja, Vedanta Desika, etc. we would find a different sense attached to this. For instance, Vedanta Desika clearly explains that if Duryodhana has to ask such a question to Guru Dhronachaarya, it is not out of confidence, but out of extreme fear of losing! We might wonder how this is possible? Moreover, the war hasn’t even begun, and even at this stage, how can Duryodhana be scared? In fact, it was Duryodhana who wanted this war to happen and we’ve seen this earlier at many instances! So, how can we say that Duryodhana is in fear upon seeing the Paandavas’ army? An interesting accord awaits us in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the context and the structure of the Bhagawad Gita, which is nothing but the conversation between Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna, as narrated by Sanjaya to King Dhritarashtra. This is how the structure is, and we’ve also seen that Sanjaya is narrating the excerpts of the war, incident by incident, minute by minute to King Dhritarashtra, however, one important point which we’ve to note here is that, Sanjaya starts this narrative only after ten days of war are over. This is where we should not get confused. The way in which Sanjaya is going to narrate the war will be as if he is giving live updates from the battlefield, but the reality is that, he is narrating whatever happened already. 

Now moving on further, the entire narrative commences with King Dhritarashtra asking a very important question to Sanjaya. With this, we begin the “Arjuna-Vishaada Yoga” of the Bhagawad Gita (First “Adhyaayam of eighteen), with the first shloka. King Dhritarashtra asks thus: 

“Dharmakshetre kurukshetre samavedaaha yuyutsavaha!

Maamakah paandavaaschaiva kim kurvata sanjaya!!”

Through the above shloka, King Dhritarashtra is asking Sanjaya thus, “Oh Sanjaya! My sons (Kauravas) along with the Paandavas went to the battlefield, didn’t they? What did they do there? What are they doing there currently?” As King Dhritarashtra asks thus, Sanjaya thinks within himself – “Oh wow! Look at what he is asking! How smart King Dhritarashtra is!” Thinking thus, Sanjaya replies, “Oh King! What kind of a question is this? What will one do on a battlefield? Obviously he would take the weapon in hand and fight, wouldn’t he? What’s the big rocket science in this? Oh King Dhritarashtra! Your question might sound very absurd if looked upon from outside. However, I understand that there’s a hidden agenda behind your question – You want to hear from me whether your sons are winning the war and whether the Paandavas are losing the war. Is it true? If you’re able to talk smartly like this, won’t I know how to talk smartly as well? Oh King Dhritarashtra! Let me tell you one thing very clearly – On whichever side Bhagawan Krishna is physically present, that side is going to taste victory! You can be rest assured of it, no matter how powerful the opponent army might be!” 

This is again an encrypted answer which Sanjaya gives, and this comes as the last shloka of the Bhagawad Gita in the eighteenth “Adhyaaya”. Thus, we can see here that for the one question that King Dhritarashtra has asked just now, Sanjaya’s answer spans across eighteen chapters (“Adhyaayas”) of the Bhagawad Gita, which was narrated by Bhagawan Krishna to Arjuna! So for now, let us analyze the first shloka which we just witnessed. This is a tricky question that King Dhritarashtra is asking here, as I had mentioned earlier. When King Dhritarashtra addresses the Paandavas in this shloka, he says, “Maamakaah Paandavaaschaiva”. This literally means, “Paandavas are my sons”! But is this really true? Did King Dhritarashtra have this in his mind? If yes, this entire war wouldn’t have happened, isn’t it? 🙂 Actually, the shloka should have been structured in such a way that King Dhritarashtra inquiring about his son Duryodhana and Paandu’s son Yudishtra. So why is the shloka structured this way? 

Readers should understand a very important thing here – When King Dhritarashtra addresses Yudishtra and Co. as “Paandavas”, it obviously has an inner meaning that Yudishtra is not his son! So the differentiation is quite clear here in King Dhritarashtra’s mind, which comes out indirectly through words! So, we should assume the meaning of this phrase as “What is my son Duryodhana and Paandu’s son Yudishtra doing on the battlefield?”. Instead, we should not take the meaning as “My son Yudishtra”, because the divide is evident here, isn’t it? Hence, this is a crypted question which King Dhritarashtra is asking Sanjaya and for today, let us understand this in-depth meaning of this shloka. We shall continue with this discussion further and witness what Sanjaya’s answer is going to be! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sanjaya’s continuation of the narrative about what is happening at Kurukshetra, wherein we’re in the process of seeing an overview of the Bhagawad Gita by setting the context. In this way, we’ve seen in a nutshell as to what exactly the Bhagawad Gita talks about. Bhagawan Krishna Himself narrates how a person should conduct himself / herself, both in this present world, as well as after this. He narrates how one can attain the highest “Moksha” and He proposes three major paths to do this – Firstly, through the “Karma Yoga”, secondly through the “Gnyaana Yoga” and the third one – Through the “Bhakti Yoga”. There are enormous leadership and management implications behind what Bhagawan Krishna is going to narrate as part of all these three “Yogas” and we’re going to witness this one after the other in a great bit of detail. As we’ve seen earlier too, the Bhagawad Gita comprises of 700 shlokas in total, put under eighteen “Adhyaayas” under the Upa-Parva of “Shri Bhagawad Gita Parva”, which is in turn under the main “Bhishma Parva”. 

Now having understood this much, we shall continue with what Sanjaya has to say. In fact, it is quite interesting to note here that this entire conversation between Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna is inaugurated by none other than King Dhritarashtra himself! 🙂 King Dhritarashtra is going to ask a question and after that he is going to remain silent. The answer to that one question is of 700 slokas, which Bhagawan Krishna and Arjuna are going to discuss! We shall see the sequence as we get into the content of the Bhagawad Gita. In the middle of course, there will be instances wherein slight references will be made by Sanjaya. For instance, when Bhagawan is going to show His “Vishwaroopa Darshan” to Arjuna during the eleventh “Adhyaaya” of the Bhagawad Gita, Sanjaya will convey to King Dhritarashtra thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Now as Bhagawan Krishna is narrating and explaining how He is an embodiment of everything in this world, He is now going to show Arjuna His true form! Bhagawan is going to give Arjuna a divine pair of eyes, with which Arjuna is going to worship Bhagawan Krishna in His “Vishwaroopam”!” Such references of Sanjaya will come here and there in the middle, but grossly, if we look at the next eighteen “Adhyaayas”, it is only going to be the “Keshava-Arjuna Samvaadham”. 

Moving on further, there are different names given to each of these eighteen “Adhyaayas” that we’re talking about. The first “Adhyaaya” is named as “Arjuna-Vishaada Yoga”. Here, we are going to see Arjuna getting depressed and starting to cry! Subsequently as Arjuna is feeling sad, Bhagawan Krishna tries to bring him out of the sadness and this takes 700 shlokas for Bhagawan to do it! 🙂 Once again, I’m reminding our readers an important thing – All these “Charitras” that we’re currently witnessing is being narrated only towards the end of the tenth day of the war, wherein Bhishmachaarya has already fallen down. But we’ve to slightly rewind ourselves to the beginning of the war wherein there are eleven “Akshauhinis” of army standing on the Kaurava side, ready to fight against seven “Akshauhinis” of army on the Paandava side. King Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya are nowhere close to the battlefield. Both of them are sitting at the Hastinapura palace and Sanjaya is narrating all these proceedings with the help of the divine pair of eyes gifted to him by Sage Vyaasa. 

Now that Sanjaya and King Dhritarashtra are seated together, King Dhritarashtra is going to ask the important question as to what is happening in the battlefield. So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness an important shloka from which things are going to kickstart! Stay tuned for an important episode tomorrow! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had laid the foundation for the Bhagawad Gita to take off. We’ve seen how Sanjaya is the person who is going to narrate this entire “Charitra” to King Dhritarashtra as part of his explanation of the live proceedings at Kurukshetra. As Sanjaya commences his explanation, it is already the end of the tenth day of the war, however, King Dhritarashtra wants Sanjaya to explain everything from the beginning. Hence, Sanjaya commences his explanation about the war proceedings in a very detailed fashion, which actually begins from the famed Bhagawad Gita. Now, as we move on into this accord of Sanjaya, we’re going to witness the greatness of the Bhagawad Gita and the context in which it comes. We might be wondering what is this Bhagawad Gita doing amidst a battlefield. How did this take birth? Who said what? Why did Bhagawan Krishna talk amidst the battlefield? What led Him to talk all whatever He has spoken for 700 shlokas? What did Arjuna do? We would have all these questions in our mind, don’t we? Hence, let us see the answers for these questions one after the other. 

But before that, we shall set the foundation for the detailed Bhagawad Gita discussion. As we’ve seen earlier, it is nothing but a detailed conversation between Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna. Arjuna is going to ask a few important questions to Bhagawan, and subsequently, Bhagawan is going to give detailed answers for all these questions. In the previous episodes of our Mahabharata project, we’ve seen the same kind of question-answer sessions happening between kings and sages. For instance, Yudishtra himself had been involved in several question-answer sessions earlier, like how we saw the “Yaksha-Prashnam”, wherein Yudishtra answers a few questions of Yama-Dharma Raja. In similar lines, we’ve seen several conversations between Yudishtra and many great sages like Sage Vyaasa himself! All these descriptions that we’ve seen earlier are all very pertinent points when it comes to several aspects of “Dharma”. Of course, these sages whom we’re talking about, are extremely strong in their “Tapas” and “Penance” and every word that comes out of their mouth is like gold! However, when it comes to the Bhagawad Gita, these answers are directly coming from Bhagawan’s mouth, isn’t it? Hence, we can understand the significance behind it. Of course, if we’ve to compare these answers with those of several sages, several answers will have a lot of similarity in description. However, as I had mentioned, since these answers are now directly coming from the source itself (Bhagawan), the Bhagawad Gita assumes enormous significance! 

Thus, to give a snippet into what the Bhagawad Gita talks about – It is a complete package of how a person should lead a life in this world and what are the different ways through which a person can attain the highest “Moksha”. It talks about the “Karma Yoga”, “Gnyaana Yoga” and the “Bhakti Yoga”, which we’re going to discuss in a great detail as well. Through these three “Yogas”, Bhagawan Krishna explains how one can attain the highest goal of life through any one of these paths. Bhagawan is going to give an exhaustive explanation as to how performing our “Karma” itself can take us all the way to “Moksha”, along with “Bhakti” and “Gnyaanam”. The Bhagawad Gita, as mentioned earlier, can also be referred to as the “Keshava-Arjuna Samvaadham” or “Krishna-Arjuna Samvaadham”, or simply put in simple terms, a dialogue between Bhagawan Krishna and Arjuna. In fact, one of the main purposes behind Bhagawan Krishna’s incarnation is to gift the Bhagawad Gita to the entire world by using Arjuna as His divine instrument! We’ve seen earlier that Bhagawan Krishna is none other than Bhagawan Narayana of the Bhadrinaatha Kshetra and Arjuna is none other than “Nara”, who is the disciple of Bhagawan Narayana. Thus, this “Guru-Sishya” relationship that Nara and Bhagawan Narayana share at the Bhadrinatha Kshetra, continues in the Dvaapara Yuga as Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna! Thus, Bhagawan Krishna assumes the position of the “Guru” or the divine Spiritual Master and Arjuna assumes the position of His divine disciple! Hence, the Bhagawad Gita on the whole illustrates how a disciple should conduct himself in front of the Guru. 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further and see from where Sanjaya is going to start this accord! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sanjaya storming into King Dhritarashtra’s chamber claiming loudly that Bhishmachaarya has fallen down from his chariot on the battlefield – Courtesy, the orchestrated plan of Bhagawan Krishna and Arjuna to bring Shikhandi in the forefront! Thus, as Bhishmachaarya has taken an oath not to fight with Shikhandi, he puts down his bow and arrow and this is the point that Arjuna captures to pull down Bhishmachaarya. Explaining this, Sanjaya cries out in agony and King Dhritarashtra is getting too nervous and anxious with what is happening on the battlefield. As this incident happens, this is the tenth day of the war and it is at this time, Sanjaya commences his detailed explanation of what happened on the battlefield, starting from day one. Readers should once again understand the point here that Sanjaya is not giving a “live” update of the war to King Dhritarashtra. The entire explanation of the war commences only on the tenth day after Bhishmachaarya falls down on the ground. 

Now we’ve seen that as Sanjaya laments Bhishmachaarya’s fall, King Dhritarashtra asks a series of counter questions as to why Bhishmachaarya was not protected by anybody in the Kaurava army. He even asks some pertinent questions pertaining to Duryodhana’s presence in the battlefield and enquires about the well being of his ninety-nine other sons, along with Sahuni and the others. Now, Sanjaya is going to commence an important reply, in a bid to answer King Dhritarashtra’s questions. Sanjaya replies thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Till this moment, I tried to resist myself in coming to you and updating you on what is happening on the battlefield! It’s a complete disaster in the making – A crisis which is beyond imagination! I shall narrate whatever happened earlier along with what is happening currently if you are willing to listen! Else, I shall just resist myself not to talk about it any further!” 

As Sanjaya gives this crypted answer, King Dhritarashtra replies back after a mild thought. He says thus, “Oh Sanjaya! Just because you’re trying to hide certain things from me, is truth going to be hidden permanently? At some point in time, the truth will come out, isn’t it? Hence, please narrate to  me the proceedings of the war right from the beginning! Please do not hide anything from me. You may feel free to tell me as and how you wish to, because I trust your words completely. I know that you will not tell me something that is not correct!” As King Dhritarashtra says thus, Sanjaya is now going to commence the long narrative of what happened right from day one of the Mahabharata war. He commences with the narration of the Bhagawad Gita by Bhagawan Krishna to Arjuna, and in fact, the shlokas that are given in this context, clearly indicates that Sanjaya is the one who is narrating the entire “Charitra” to King Dhritarashtra, which includes the Bhagawad Gita. Of course, it is also evident that Bhagawan Krishna and Arjuna were the first and second persons actively involved in the conversation, but somebody has to document it and somebody has to communicate it to the world, isn’t it? Sanjaya does the first level of communication to King Dhritarashtra, and this entire thing is documented by Sage Vyaasa, as part of the “Shri Bhagawad Gita Parva” under the “Bhishma Parva” in the Mahabharata text. So, this is the sequence that all of us need to remember here. 

Thus, as King Dhritarashtra laments and requests Sanjaya to explain the war proceedings from the beginning in the subsequent “Adhyaayas” under the “Shri Bhagawad Gita Parva”, Sanjaya commences his detailed accord. Now, for the next eighteen “Adhyaayas”, it is only going to be a full explanation of the “Shrimad Bhagawad Gita”, with a total of 700 shlokas. In this project, I shall take key shlokas out of these 700, to explain the in-depth meaning behind them, along with some important leadership / management lessons that we can learn from these shlokas for our today’s life. So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall commence the all-important narration of the Bhagawad Gita by Sanjaya to King Dhritarashtra! Stay tuned for an auspicious beginning tomorrow! 🙂

The previous episode was a landmark one, as we’ve entered into the all-important “Shri Bhagawad Gita Parva” under the main “Bhishma Parva”. This is where we’re going to witness the complete package of the 700-shloka-Bhagawad Gita – An important conversation between Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna in the Kurukshetra battlefield. This “Upa-Parva” commences at a point when Sanjaya starts narrating the proceedings of the Kurukshetra war, ten days after it had begun! Now this is where many of us might get confused. We should understand one thing very clearly – For the first ten days of the Kurukshetra war, Sanjaya did not narrate anything that was going on to King Dhritarashtra. It all begins only after Bhishmachaarya is laid to rest on the “bed of arrows”, after he falls to Arjuna’s flurry! This important incident takes place on the tenth day of the war and it is only after Bhishmachaarya falls, Sanjaya is starting to narrate all the proceedings to King Dhritarashtra. Thus, even as the eleventh day proceedings go on, Sanjaya starts from “Day zero” of the war and goes on from there. So we’ve to be very clear in our understanding here. 

Thus, the structure of the Bhagawad Gita in the Mahabharata text is like this: Sanjaya narrates to King Dhritarashtra, the Bhagawad Gita exactly as spoken by Bhagawan Krishna to Arjuna and vice-versa. We shall witness the beginning sloka of this “Bhagawad Gita Parva” and with this, we shall understand clearly as to what is happening. Sanjaya says thus: 

“Sanjayoham maharaja namaste bharata rishabha!

Hato bhishmah shaantanavah bharataanaam pita mahaha!!”

Now we shall understand the sequence clearly. Sanjaya says through the above sloka thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! Bhishmachaarya has fallen down and has been destroyed completely! Bhishmachaarya has been pushed to the ground by none other than Shikhandi. Arjuna was at the back of Shikhandi in the same chariot and this seems to be a clear ploy. As Shikhandi came to the front to fight, Bhishmachaarya immediately put down his bow and arrows. This was the time when Arjuna capitalized and with the instruction from Bhagawan Krishna, Arjuna fired arrows after arrows on Bhishmachaarya who was weaponless at that time! Thus, unable to bear the innumerable arrows fired by Arjuna, Bhishmachaarya fell on the ground. However, he is still alive and is resting on the “bed of arrows”, created by Arjuna! Oh King Dhritarashtra! What do we do now? We’ve lost the great Bhishmachaarya in the battlefield! From now onwards it’s only a formality that the Paandava army has to complete! Our entire army is going to be destroyed into pieces!” 

Saying thus, Sanjaya cries aloud and storms into King Dhritarashtra’s chamber! As Sanjaya runs inside thus, King Dhritatashtra doesn’t understand anything what’s going on! He immediately calms Sanjaya down, makes him sit beside him and asks patiently thus, “Oh my dear Sanjaya! Why are you so tensed? What’s happening on the battlefield? Are you trying to tell me that the great Bhishmachaarya has been defeated? Is it really possible? This is really an unprecedented happening and till date, I’ve never seen Bhishmachaarya being defeated so quickly! What is really happening on the battlefield? Didn’t people come to the rescue of Bhishmachaarya? Aren’t there “Maharathis” who are extremely capable of protecting Bhishmachaarya? How was he left alone in the war zone unattended? Did none of them protect his chariot on either side? Was there nobody to protect the flag that is on his chariot? Where is Duryodhana? Where are my hundred sons? Are they still alive? Why did Duryodhana desert his grandfather like this? Oh Sanjaya! As you were saying that Bhishmachaarya has fallen down, my heart and body are shivering with fear and tension! Please tell me what is going on! This is sounding unprecedented!” 

As King Dhritarashtra asks with a lot of tension thus, Sanjaya commences his explanation on what is going on at Kurukshetra. By this time, as we’ve seen the above conversation, it is already the tenth day of the war, however, while narrating the proceedings, Sanjaya commences right from the first day, and gives a seemingly live commentary of the entire war proceedings. Thus, as King Dhritarashtra poses enormous questions like this, Sanjaya initially did not know what to reply. He waits for a few minutes, composes himself and now begins his reply slowly with a sad tone. So for today, let us understand the context clearly once again, and we shall wait till the next episode to commence Sanjaya’s detailed explanation! Stay tuned!

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Sanjaya’s concluding accord on the four different “Yugas” and how “Dharma” has been followed in each of these. Of course, as Sanjaya is talking this, it is the “Dvaapara Yuga” which is in place, and shortly after that, the “Kali Yuga” is going to commence. So, Sanjaya explains how “Dharma” diminished grossly during the “Dvaapara Yuga” and how it is going to diminish even further in the upcoming “Kali Yuga”. We ourselves are the best judges to ascertain how “Dharma” is deteriorating in the current “Kali Yuga”, and we do not require a Sanjaya to explain this any further! 🙂 Moving on thus, we now enter into the next “Upa-Parva” under the main “Bhishma Parva”, which is nothing but the “Bhoomi Parva”. Here, King Dhritarashtra is asking specific details about our Mother Earth, it’s size, composition, etc. for which, Sanjaya is going to give a very important reply, but a short one here. We shall now commence Sanjaya’s answer in this episode. 

As King Dhritarashtra asks this question, Sanjaya replies thus, “Oh King Dhritarashtra! As I had mentioned earlier, the world has several “Lokhas” above and below it. However, the one on which we are living is called as the “Jambu-Dveepam”. Apart from this “Jambu Dveepam”, there are other “Dveepams” as well, such as “Shaaka Dveepam”, “Kusha Dveepam”, “Shaalmali Dveepam”, “Plaksha Dveepam” and “Krauncha Dveepam”. This “Jambu Dveepam” upon which we are residing is almost 1 Lakh “Yojanas” big in size. Surrounding this massive “Jambu Dveepam”, is the ocean of water, which is another 1 Lakh Yojanas in size. Similarly, the other “Dveepams” are exponentially larger than this “Jambu Dveepam” and are surrounded by various kinds of oceans such as milk, curd, ghee, alcohol and pure water. Thus, in the middle of everything, we are located inside this “Jambu Dveepam”. Inside this “Jamba Dveepam” is the Bhaarata-Varsham and inside this Bhaarata-Varsham is the “Bharata-Kandam”. We are currently living in this “Bharata-Kandam”, which is what we term as the land of “Sanaatana Dharma”. Thus, for each of these “Dveepams” that we discussed earlier, there are different planets associated with each of them and their sources of food, water, etc. are from the oceans that surround these “Dveepams”!” 

As Sanjaya gives a detailed explanation of this sorts, King Dhritarashtra listens to it very carefully. Of course, I’ve not covered all the details of what Sanjaya has mentioned, but we’ve kept it to a brief. For more details, we may have a separate discussion on this topic at a later stage, because it is a very exhaustive one for discussion. If we go into that, we might lose the continuity of the Mahabharata story and the leadership / management part of it, and hence, I’m reserving these geological details for another day. Now as we move further, we enter into the most important “Upa-Parva” of this “Bhishma Parva” – Perhaps one of the key “Upa-Parvas” in the entire Mahabharata text, which has enormous significance – “Shri Bhagawad Gita Parva”! Now we’ve to be very careful to understand a twist in the story – We might be thinking that Sanjaya has started narrating the minute-by-minute proceedings of the Kurukshetra war to King Dhritarashtra, isn’t it? But the actual fact is something different – Sanjaya starts narrating the war proceedings, 10 days after the war has commenced! This might be a rude shocker for all of us, isn’t it? So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, I shall narrate the reason behind this shocker and we shall see how the shlokas begin in the Bhagawad Gita Parva! Stay tuned for important updates! 🙂