Bhagavad Gita · Arjuna Vishada YogaChapter 1, Shloka 1 (1.1)

A simple question, but loaded language. On the surface this is a plain, straightforward question: "what happened on the battlefield?" But four words make it special.

1. "Dharmakshetre" — the field of dharma. Dhritarashtra does not call the battlefield merely "Kurukshetra"; he also calls it "dharmakshetra". Kurukshetra has been regarded as a sacred place since Vedic times. Madhusudana Sarasvati makes a profound point in his commentary: there is fear in Dhritarashtra's mind. The Pandavas are already righteous; if, under the influence of the field of dharma, they regard the violence of both sides as adharma and abandon the war, then too... and if, under the influence of that same sacred ground, my sons' hearts change and they return the kingdom they took by deceit — then my sons will "lose" even without a war. In other words, Dhritarashtra's concern is not dharma but his sons' kingdom. This is an interpretation, but it fits the words of the shloka well.

2. "Maamakaah pandavaashcha" — "mine" and "the Pandavas". This is the deepest hint in this shloka. The Pandavas too are Dhritarashtra's nephews — sons of his younger brother Pandu. By the reckoning of the Kuru line, both are "his own". Yet Dhritarashtra says: "my people, and the Pandavas." Madhusudana Sarasvati seizes on exactly this: it would have been enough to ask "what were mine doing?"; naming the Pandavas separately shows that Dhritarashtra has no "mamata" (sense of mine-ness) for the Pandavas — and this very separation exposes his hostility. The root of the whole tragedy of the Mahabharata is this very distinction of mine and not-mine.

3. "Yuyutsavah" — desiring to fight. Both sides have come wanting to fight. Dhritarashtra knows there is a desire for war; still he asks "what did they do?" — because there is a hope or a fear in his mind that perhaps something else has happened.

4. "Sanjaya" — the form of address. Madhusudana gives a lovely interpretation: the name Sanjaya means "one who has conquered well" — that is, one who has won victory over attraction and aversion. It is as if the king is saying: "you are impartial; tell me the truth without hiding anything." This is an interpretation of the name, not a historical claim.

Why does the Gita begin with the question of a blind man? Dhritarashtra is physically blind, but the story also remembers him for another blindness — the blindness of attachment to his sons. He never restrained Duryodhana from injustice. The first word of the Gita is "dharma", and the first question comes from a man who knows dharma but cannot see it because of moha (delusion). Many teachers regard this as the Gita's first hint: moha blinds a person — and later Arjuna too, in a different kind of moha, will fall prey to clouded vision. (This reading is our interpretation; the shloka itself does not make this comparison.)

What to keep in mind: In this shloka Dhritarashtra is not giving any teaching. His words are the words of a character — with his fears and his partiality. So one should not conclude from the word "dharmakshetra" that Dhritarashtra stands on the side of dharma.