Sanskrit
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच |
धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः |
मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ||१||
Transliteration
dhṛtarāśhtra uvācha
dharma-kṣhetre kuru-kṣhetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāśh chaiva kim akurvata sañjaya
Translation
Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjaya, assembled on the holy field of Kurukshetra and desiring to fight, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do?
Word Meanings
dhṛtarāśhtraḥ — King Dhritarashtra; uvācha — said; dharma-kṣhetre — holy land; kuru-kṣhetre — Kurukshetra; samavetāḥ — assembled; yuyutsavaḥ — desiring to fight; māmakāḥ — my sons; pāṇḍavāḥ — sons of Pandu; cha — and; eva — certainly; kim — what; akurvata — did they do; sañjaya — Sanjaya
Explanation
The Gita opens with the blind king Dhritarashtra asking his secretary Sanjaya about the battle. The word “dharma-kṣhetre” (field of dharma) is significant — Kurukshetra is not just a battlefield but a place of righteousness. By calling it “dharma-kshetra,” the text foreshadows that the outcome will favor dharma. The king’s anxiety is revealed by “māmakāḥ” (my sons) vs “pāṇḍavāḥ” (sons of Pandu) — he separates them, showing his bias.
Written by
Aditya Gupta
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