Chapter 1, Verse 2 अध्याय 1, श्लोक 2

सञ्जय उवाच ।
दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस्तदा ।
आचार्यमुपसङ्गम्य राजा वचनमब्रवीत् ।। 2।।

sañjaya uvācha
dṛiṣhṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanastadā
āchāryamupasaṅgamya rājā vachanamabravīt

EXPLANATION

Sanjay understood Dhritarashtra’s concern, who wanted an assurance that the battle would eventuate. Sanjay tried to allay his worry by informing that the Pandava army was standing in a military formation, ready for battle. Then he moved on to tell him what his son Duryodhana was doing on the battlefield.

As King Dhritarashtra was blind, his eldest son Duryodhana virtually ruled the kingdom of Hastinapur. In the Mahabharata, he is described as very rude, egoistic, evil and cruel by nature. Since his childhood, he had a strong dislike for the Pandavas and left no opportunity to demean them. He was aware that to rule over the entire kingdom of Hastinapur unchallenged he needed to eliminate them. However, standing on the battlefield, when he saw the large Pandava army, he was baffled.  He had underestimated the Pandavas, the extent of military might they had gathered was way beyond his expectation.

Duryodhana approached his guru Dronacharya with the pretense of offering respect, but his actual purpose was to palliate his own nervousness. His move towards his guru also reveals that the mammoth military formation of the Pandava army unnerved him and he was now fearful of the outcome of this war.

The next nine verses are spoken by Duryodhan.

Chapter 1, Verse 1 अध्याय 1, श्लोक 1

धृतराष्ट्र उवाच |
धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः |
मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ||1||

dhṛitarāśhtra uvācha
dharma-kṣhetre kuru-kṣhetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāśhchaiva kimakurvata sañjaya

EXPLANATION

The two armies had gathered on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, well prepared to fight a war that was inevitable. Still, in this verse, King Dhritarashtra asked Sanjay, what his sons and his brother Pandu’s sons were doing on the battlefield? It was apparent that they would fight, then why did he ask such a question?

The blind King Dhritarashtra’s fondness for his own sons had clouded his spiritual wisdom and deviated him from the path of virtue. He had usurped the kingdom of Hastinapur from the rightful heirs; the Pandavas, sons of his brother Pandu. Feeling guilty of the injustice he had done towards his nephews, his conscience worried him about the outcome of this battle.

The words dharma kṣhetre, the land of dharma(virtuous conduct) used by Dhritarashtra depict the dilemma he was experiencing.  Kurukshetra is described as kurukṣhetraṁ deva yajanam in the Shatapath Brahman, the Vedic textbook detailing rituals. It means “Kurukshetra is the sacrificial arena of the celestial gods.” Hence, it was regarded as the sacred land that nourished dharma. 

Dhritarashtra feared that the holy land might influence the minds of his sons. If it aroused the faculty of discrimination, they might turn away from killing their cousins and negotiate a truce. A peaceful settlement meant that the Pandavas would continue being a hindrance for them. He felt great displeasure at these possibilities, instead preferred that this war transpires. He was uncertain of the consequences of the war, yet desired to determine the fate of his sons. Therefore, he asked Sanjay about the activities of the two armies on the battleground.