Chapter1 Verse - 3

 

Verse - 3

पश्यैतां पाण्डुपुत्राणामाचार्य महतीं चमूम् ।
व्यूढां द्रुपदपुत्रेण तव शिष्येण धीमता ।। 3।।

Transliteration:

pashyaitAm pAnduputrAnAm mahatIm camUm .

vyUDhAm drupadaputrena tava shiShyena dhimatA ..3..

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Word by word meaning:

पश्य– look , एतां - at this , पाण्डु-पुत्राणाम् – of Sons of Pandu, आचार्य – O Teacher  महतीं -Great चमूम्- army व्यूढां – the array द्रुपद-पुत्रेण – by the son of Drupada , तव शिष्येण – your disciple धीमता – formed

Meaning:

BG 1.3: O Teacher, look at this great army of the Pandavas ,  Which is formed (and lead ) by the Son of Drupada

Significance :

                           Dronacarya is a person of equanimity. He is an excellent Guru and a dedicated person. Duryodhana sensed this , he wanted to disturb this state of Dronacarya ,he thought Dronacarya may turn in favour of the Pandava army, as Arjuna is the favourite student of Dronacarya.

                       In this verse , Duryodhana On nearing his Teacher, Duryodhana expresses his fear for the opposite army. He uses the word “ mahatIm “ to describe the army of the Pandavas which is actually smaller that his ! His intention of uttering these words - can be, to give the feel of guilt to Dronacarya or to put the blame of Dronacarya or to motivate Dronacarya. But what resulted is his fear got exposed. He conveyed that , being their Kula guru, he should have given him and his brothers special treatment but it did not happen. He expressed his displeasure for Dronacarya, he always thought, Dronacharya imparted special knowledge to his best student Arjuna, who is now in the opposition.

                             Next, he talks of the son of king Drupada, Dhrishtadyumna. Dronacarya and Drupada were childhood friends, due to some misunderstanding they became enemies. Drupada performed a yagna wishing for a child who would kill Drona. Dhrishtadyumna was born out of the fire as the person who would kill Dronacarya. As time passed, Drupada requested Dronacarya to accept Dhrishtadyumna as his disciple. How could one accept the person , who is born to kill him as their disciple and teach his skills. But being a person of equanimity, Dronacarya accepted him as his disciple, imparted knowledge as all his disciples. Duryodhana now mentions his name along with the word ‘तव शिष्येण ‘ to remind that, only because of this act of Dronacarya, now the Pandavas army is more mightier than theirs!

Chapter1 Verse - 2

 सञ्जय उवाच​

दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस्तदा।

आचार्यमुपसंगम्य राजा वचनमब्रवीत् ॥ २ ॥

drishtvA tu pAnDavAnIkaM vyUDhaM duryodhanastadA .

AcAryamupasamgamya rAjA vacanamabravIt .. 2..

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दृष्ट्वा             - on seeing

तु                 - here it is used to enhance the meaning

पाण्डव             -Pandava’s

आनीकम्        -Army

व्यूढं               - large

दुर्योधनः           - Duryodhana

तदा              - then

आचार्यम्        - to the teacher

उपसंगम्य​       -approached

राजा             -King

वचनम्          -words

अब्रवीत्         -spoke

Meaning :

                       Sanjaya said “ Then Duryodhana , On seeing the large army of Pandavas, approached the Acarya , and uttered these words.

Significance :

                                         The verse is uttered by Sanjaya. He was the charioteer for Dhritharashtra. The person who was given the divine sight to see what is happening in the war field. He gave updates to the king without taking sides. He was the person who was chosen to bring back Vidura when he was shooed away by the king for his bitter truths and suggestions. He was the messenger chosen, to convey the message that Pandavas wont get any part of the kingdom. HE won the trust of everyone by his dedication and sincerity. It is this dedication which was the reason for him getting the blessings of the Supreme to have the vision of the ViswarUpa darshanam. Sanjaya served Dhritharashtra till his last breath even when the king retired to the forest for vanaprastashramam.  

                                    This verse gives us the picture of how the mindset of Duryodhana is. It is always good to know the strength of the opposite person , their strategies, their tricks, the nature of the work and our strength too before we start a work. Above all, self confidence matters a lot. We should trust our Guru completely , the more we trust our Guru the more we will travel in the path of righteousness. Duryodhana here has distrust in the people who stand in his army. He believed that all of them support Pandavas in their mind and stand by his side just for namesake. That insecurity has made him feel that the army of Pandavas is too big and well organised , where their army is 11 akshauhini and that of Pandavas is 7 akshauhini. An akshauhini is described as the battle formation which consists of of 21,870 chariots , 21,870 elephants , 65,610 horses , and 109,350 infantry ; Whenever we get scared we seek a person who is superior to us, who will be neutral , whose words will reinstall our self confidence. For the same reasons, among all the warriors on his side, Duryodhana approached DronAcarya.

                        Sanjaya uses the term ‘rAja’ instead of ‘prince’ to address Duryodhana. Here it is subtly told that his greediness , his thought of seeing Pandavas as an obstacle to attain the throne has lead to this ruthless war. The term ‘abravIt’ is used thrice in Bhagavad Gita, of which two instances are to show the agitated mental state of the speaker . ‘AbravIt’ is in imperfect tense , which is usually used in when the past action - is continued for sometime. Thus indicating us the words are Duryodhana are going to reflect his mental state.

Chapter1 Verse-1

 

अथ प्रथमोऽध्यायः

अर्जुनविषादयोगः

धृतराष्ट्र उवाच ।

धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः ।
मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ॥ 1 ॥

Dharmakshetre kurukshetre samavetA yuyutsavaH .

mAmakAH pANDavAshcaiva kimakurvata Sanjaya .. 1 ..

 

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धर्मक्षेत्रे        - In the field of righteousness

कुरुक्षेत्रे       - in kurukshetra

समवेता       -having gathered

युयुत्सवः       -desirous of fighting

मामकाः       -my people

पाण्डवाः         -son of pandu

च                  -and

एव​                -only

किम्              -what

अकुर्वत​                    -did they do

सञ्जय            -O Sanjaya

Meaning :

In the Battlefield, which is also the field of righteousness, O Sanjaya, What did my sons and the sons of Pandu do ?

Significance :

The first verse of Bhagavad Gita is one among the important verses. It reflects the mindset of Dhritharashtra. His thought that he has been denied the kingdom that belongs to him, his thought that only his son should become a king, his jealousy, his insecurity , his partiality, his blindfold love for his son, is the root cause of the this war. This is the only verse spoken by him in the Bhagavad Gita, he uses the terms ‘mAmakAH’ and ‘PAndavaH’, he says kauravas as my children and names yudhishtira and his brothers as ‘the sons of Pandu’. He, being the elder brother of Pandu, on his demise should have treated all the children equally. He did not fulfil the duty of a brother. He, being the ruler, should have used his power to choose the qualified person as the Prince and the next ruler. He did not fulfil his duty as a King. He, being a father should have shown the right path to Duryodhana. He did not fulfil his duty as a father too. Because of his negligence, his whole race is now standing in the war field. Still his mind expects the Pandavas to retreat from the war being influenced by the righteous nature of Kurukshetra. Both Pandavas and Kauravas are entitled to be called as Kauravas , as they belong to the Kuru clan. Here the words of Dhritharashtra reflects his mind!

Bhagavad Gita , the Holy book , serves as an excellent physological text. It gives solutions for each and every situation we face in our life. We can easily see us when we personify our good qualities as the Pandavas and our bad qualities as the Kauravas. This battle happens in our mind everyday. The good need to win the battle for our own betterment. We need a person to whom we can go and talk our mind. We choose that person, with their qualities again. They should be good, they should be kind and at the same time they should be firm, they should live by their words, they should possess good vitues, they should be compassionate etc etc. Here comes Bhagavad Gita with the words of such a person, Lord Krishna. He guides us throughout, to win the battle in our mind, to choose the right path when we are in dilemma.

 

Gita Dhyanam - 9

 

यं ब्रह्मा वरुणेन्द्ररुद्रमरुतः स्तुन्वन्ति दिव्यैः स्तवैः वेदैः साङ्गपदक्रमोपनिषदैः गायन्ति यं सामगाः ।

ध्यानावस्थिततद्गतेन मनसा पश्यन्ति यं योगिनः यस्यान्तं न विदुः सुरासुरगणाः देवाय तस्मै नमः ॥ ९॥

Yam brahmA varunendrarudramarutaH stuvanti divyaiH stavaiH vedaiH sAngapadakramopaniShadaiH gAyanti yam sAmagAH.

dhyAnAvastitatadgatena manasA pashyanti yam yoginaH yasyAntam na viduH surAsuragaNAH devAya tasmai namaH..9..

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यं                                  - Whom

वरुण इन्द्र रुद्र मरुतः         - Varuna, Indra, rudra , marut

स्तुन्वन्ति                          - Praise

दिव्यैः                             -with divine

स्तवैः                              - hymns

वेदैः                               -with Vedas

स अङ्ग पद​-क्रम                - along with the Vedangas, in proper pada-krama

उपनिषदैः                        - along with Upanishads

गायन्ति                           - Sing

यं                                  -whom

सामगाः                           - the vedic scholars

ध्यान अवस्थित                  - in the state of meditaion

तत् गतेन​                         - having absorbed in it

मनसा                             - with the mind

पश्यन्ति                          - see

यं                                  - whom

योगिनः                           - the yogis

यस्यान्तं                           - whose end

न                                  -is not

विदुः                              -known

सुर असुर गणाः                 - to the suras and asuras

देवाय                             - to that Lord

तस्मै                               - to him

नमः                               -Salutations

Meaning :

Salutation to him, who is worshipped by Brahma, Varuna, Indra , Rudra, Marut with divine chants; Who is pleased by scholars who recite Vedas along with vedangas, Upanishads following the word sequence, Who is seen by yogis who are absorbed in him, with their mind merging in him, And whose end is not known even by the devas and Asuras.

Significance :

                      In this verse we render our Salutations to the Supreme God before beginning the study of Gita. The Supreme is worshipped by all beings and it is beautifully explained in this verse. The Supreme is the Supreme knowledge who is beyond our perception. The word ‘div’ means to shine, to light, giving, spreading light . It is the Supreme God spreads the light of knowledge in our hearts which is filled with darkness of ignorance. When one realises this Supreme Consiousness, he experiences Bliss. The Supreme which is described in this verse is pure consciousness which is devoid of any form, ‘shuddha chaitanya’.

                          The Supreme consciousness is worshipped by the ‘devas’, which imply the upasana of Nirguna parabrahmam. The term ‘sAmagAH’ include the scholars who recite the Vedas , not restricted only to the scholars of sAma veda. A veda hymn can be recited in 10 ways like – pada , krama, jatA, Gana,Rekha, dhanda, ratha,etc. While the Devas and Vedic Scholars praise the Supreme aloud, He is seen by the Yogis, who has stable mind. The Supreme is beyond the perception of ‘Suras and Asuras’, the term sura – can be perceived as those who go behind materialistic happiness in a right way and Asuras – as those who go behind the same in a wrong way. He is beyond the perception of both!

                        

Gita Dhyanam - 8

 

मूकं करोति वाचालं पङ्गुंलङ्यते गिरिम् ।

यत्कृपा तमहं वन्दे परमानन्द​ माधवम् ॥ ८ ॥

mUkaM karoti vAcAlaM paNgumlaNyate girim .

yatkRipa tamahaM vande paramAnanda mAdhavam .. 8 ..

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मूकं                 -Dumb

करोति             -does

वाचालं             -speak

पङ्गुं            -lame

लङ्यते          -crosses

 गिरिम्             -the mountain

यत्कृपा             -whose compassion

तम् - अहम्     -to him, I

वन्दे                  - Salute

परमानन्द​          - Supreme bliss

माधवम्          -MAdhava

Meaning:

I bow down to Krishna, who is the Supreme bliss, whose compassion makes the dumb to speak and lame to cross the mountains.

Significance:

Whatever we may have in our life, how rich we may be , the happiness and peace is what counts. To attain that, we need to make our innerself pure. In this Kaliyuga the means by which we can make our inner self pure is Bhagawan nama Keerthana and complete Surrender. To reach the Supreme we need a Guru who showers His grace upon us , helps us to nullify our karma, helps us to meditate upon the Supreme and attain the state of bliss. Not everyone has the karma of identifying a Guru or being identified by a Guru. So Krishna Himself descends down as the Guru of the complete Universe , as the personification of the Supreme happiness .

                                        The words ' dumb, lame' does not here mean the physically challenged , but - the people who do not speak of the Supreme and the People who's legs do not go in search of Him. Our soul gets the human birth ,  with the Lord's Grace, after so many struggles and wait . Attaining Him should be the sole purpose of our birth, but we forget that and run behind the Material things. Amidst our busy schedule lets try to devote atleast few minutes to say His name, the least we can do, He says He is waiting for us to call His name and HE comes and rescues us from this samsara sagara.

                                        MAdhava, is one of the names of Lord Narayana. The word “Madhava” interestingly has many meanings. It is derived from the root ‘madhu’ that means honey, thus giving the meaning ‘one who is so sweet to His devotees’. AdiShankaracharya in his commentary to Vishnu Sahasranama explains the name as the ‘person who holds Mother Lakshmi in His Heart or one who is the consort of Mother Lakshmi’. Madhu was a king in the yadhava clan, thus as Lord Rama is known as Raghava as he was born in the race or Raghu, Lord Narayana is known as mAdhava as he is born in Madhu’s clan. The name also means ‘one who attracts everyone ‘ , as the root ‘dha’ also means ‘dhaj – to attract’. The name also means the Supreme light, as the  root ‘mA’ also means light. Lord Krishna is the Supreme light who could show us the right path.