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Translation by Jayaram V
1. Asked Dhritarashtra, " In the field of
righteousness called Kurukshetra, O Sanjaya, doing what are my
sons and Pandavas, assembled and excited to fight?
2. Spoke thus Sanjaya, "Having seen the
numerous battle formations of the Pandava's army, king Duryodhana
approached his teacher and uttered the following words.
3. O great teacher, look at the military
might of the army of Pandu's sons, strategically arranged by your
intelligent disciple and son of Drupada.
4. Here in this army are great heroes and
archers, equal to Arjuna and Bhima in fighting, like Yuyudhna,
Virata and also the great charioteer, Drupada.
5. And there are great fighters like
Dhristaketu, Chekitanu, king of Kasi, the powerful Purujit,
Kuntibhoja and Saibya, the notable among men.
6. There are also the mighty Yudhamanyu,
powerful Uttamauja, the son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi
who are all great charioteers.
7. O Superior among the twice born, let me
tell you about the most distinguished leaders of my own army, so
that you will be able to locate them and remember them during the
war.
8. "You, Bhishma, Karna, Kripa, Aswaththama,
Vikarna and Somadatta's son, who are the best combination for
victory in any war. are there
9. "And innumerable other heroes too, ready
to sacrifice their lives for my sake, equipped with various
weapons and well informed in the art of warfare.
10. "Unlimited is our strength, well protected
by our grand father Bhishma, while limited is the strength of the
Pandavas' army, although it is well protected by Bhima.
11. "Therefore all of you should now give full
protection to Bhishma, in all the strategic places, as
arranged."
12. Then valiant Bhishma, the oldest among the
Kurus and the great grandfather, blew his conch making the sound
of the roar of a lion, increasing the joy ( of Duryodhana).
13. Then many conches, large drums, small drums,
kettle drums, and horns were all at once blown suddenly resulting
in a tumultuous noise.
14. Then seated in a great chariot, drawn by white
horses, Krishna and Arjuna, also blew their divine conches
15. Panchajanyam, by Hrisikesa, Devadatta by Arjuna,
Paundram by Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of mighty
deeds.
16. Anantavijayam by king and Kunti's
son,Yudhishtira, Sughosha and Manipushpaka by Nakula and Sahadeva
.
17. King of Kasi, the supreme archer, Sikhandi, the
great charioteer, Dhristadyumna, Virata and the invincible Satyaki,
blew their respective conches.
18. O Lord of the earth, Drupada, the sons of
Draupadi, Subhadra's son and the mighty armed Abhimanyu also blew
their conches.
19. That noise shattered the hearts of the
Dhritarashtra's sons and the sky and the earth reverberated with
the tumultuous sound
20. There upon, watching the sons of Dhritarashtra
thus arrayed, preparing himself for the battle, becoming ready to
take the bow into his hands, Arjuna.
21. O Lord of the world, (Arjuna) said these words
to Hrisikesa. Said Arjuna, "O untainted One, into the middle
of both the armies please take my chariot and station me.
22. "I want to see them all who are now
standing here with the desire to fight and with whom I have to
fight in this battle that is just to begin.
23. Let me also see all those who have assembled
here to fight, wishing the welfare of the evil minded son of
Dhritarashtra (Duryodhana)."
24. Sanjaya said, "O, Bharata, Addressed thus
by Arjuna, Krishna stationed their excellent chariot between the
two armies.
25. "Infront of Bhishma, Drona and all the
chieftains of the world, said Krishna, ' Partha, see all the Kurus
'
26. "There, standing between the two armies
Arjuna saw, his elders, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles,
brothers, sons, grandsons, friends and also,
27. "Fathers-in-law, well wishers in both the
armies. After seeing all the relations stationed there, Arjuna,
28. "(Arjuna) was overwhelmed with compassion
and said these words with great sorrow." Said Arjuna, "
Seeing all these kinsfolk, O Krishna, assembled here in such a
fighting spirit,
29. "All the limbs of my body are quivering
and my mouth is becoming parched. My whole body is trembling. My
hair is standing on end.
30. "Gandivam, my bow, is slipping from my
hand, and my skin is burning all over, nor I am able to stand
properly as my mind is reeling.
31. "I am seeing extreme consequences, O
Kesava. I am unable to see any positive good by killing my
kinsfolk in this fight.
32. "I do not desire victory O Krishna, nor
kingdom, nor enjoyment, of what use to us, O Govinda, the kingdom
or the enjoyments or even the life ?
33. "For whose sake we desire kingdom,
enjoyment and all the comforts, they are all here standing in the
battle field, having decided to give up their lives and riches.
34. "Teachers, elders, sons, and also
grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons,
brothers-in-law and kinsmen,
35. "O Madhusudhana, I do not like kill them ,
even though they may wish to kill me, not even for the sake of the
three worlds. Then what to speak of the earth ?
36. "By killing the sons of Dhritarashtra,
what pleasure we will get O Janardhana ? Sin alone will befall us
if we kill these aggressors.
37. Therefore it does not befit us to kill the sons
of Dhritarashtra and all our relations. Certainly O Madhava, how
can we be happy by killing our own people?
38. "Even though they do not perceive, with
minds lost to greed, the fallibility of destroying their own
family and the disloyalty to their own friends .
39. "But why should we, who know the sin of
destroying the family, for the sake of avoiding the sin, O
Janardhana, turn away from this sin?
40. "With the destruction of the family,
family order (dharma) and eternal order (dharma) are lost. The
whole family transforms itself into adharma (disorder or
irreligiousness).
40. "With the emergence of adharma, O Krishna,
women become impure. And when women fall into bad ways, O
descendent of Vrisni, admixture of castes takes place.
41. "The intermixture of castes lead the
destroyers of the family and also the family to hell. The
ancestors (in heaven) also fall, as they do not receive the
ritualistic offerings of food and water due to them.
43. "Because of the misdeeds of these
destroyers of family and order of the castes, the order (dharma)
of the community and of the family are permanently destroyed.
44. "O Janardhana, I have heard from others
that those men whose destroy their family order (dharma) would
always dwell in hell.
45. "Oh, how strange it is that we have got
into this act of committing such a great sin, out of greed for
enjoying royal pleasures, by trying to kill our own people!
46. "It is much better if the sons of
Dhritarashtra, armed with weapons, kill me when I am unarmed and
not in a mood to fight and take revenge."
47. Said Sanjaya," Saying thus amidst the
battle field, Arjuna sat down in his chariot, distressed mentally
by sorrow and dropping aside his bow and arrows."
Thus ends the first chapter named the
Yoga of Arjuna's Sorrow
in the Upanishad of the divine Bhagavad-Gita , the knowledge of the
Absolute, the yogic scripture, and the debate between Arjuna and Lord
Krishna.
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