Dhritarashtra said: On the holy plain of Kurukshetra (dharmakshetra kurukshetra), when my offspring and the sons of Pandu had gathered together, eager for battle, what did they, O Sanjaya?
Sanjaya said: Then King Duryodhana, after having seen the armies of the Pandavas in battle array, repaired to his preceptor (Drona), and spoke as follows:
O Teacher, behold this great army of the sons of Pandu, arranged in battle order by thy talented disciple, the son of Drupada.
Here present are mighty heroes, extraordinary bowmen as skillful in battle as Bhima and Arjuna—the veteran warriors, Yuyudhana, Virata, and Drupada;
The powerful Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, and Kashiraja; eminent among men, Purujit; and Kuntibhoja, and Shaibya;
The strong Yudhamanyu, the valiant Uttamaujas, the son of Subhadra, and the sons of Draupadi—all lords of great chariots.
Listen, too, O Flower of the twice-born (best of the Brahmins), about the generals of my army who are prominent amongst ourselves: these I speak about now for thine information.
These warriors are thyself (Drona), Bhishma, Karna, and Kripa —victors in battles; Ashvatthaman, Vikarna, the son of Somadatta, and Jayadratha.
And numerous other warriors, all well-trained for battle and armed with various weapons, are here present, ready for my sake to lay down their lives.
These our forces protected by Bhishma are unlimited (but may be insufficient); whereas their army, defended by Bhima, is limited (but quite adequate).
All of you, properly stationed in your places in the divisions of the army, do protect Bhishma.
Grandsire Bhishma, oldest and most powerful of the Kurus, with the purpose of cheering Duryodhana, blew his conch shell with a resounding lion’s roar.
Then suddenly (after Bhishma’s first note), a great chorus from conch shells, kettledrums, cymbals, tabors, and cowhorn-trumpets sounded (from the side of the Kurus); the noise was terrific.
Then also, Madhava (Krishna) and Pandava (Arjuna), seated in their grand chariot with its yoke of white horses, splendidly blew their celestial conch shells.
Hrishikesha (Krishna) blew his Panchajanya; Dhananjaya (Arjuna), his Devadatta; and Vrikodara (Bhima), of terrible deeds, blew his great conch Paundra.
King Yudhisthira, the son of Kunti, blew his Anantavijaya; Nakula and Sahadeva blew, respectively, their Sughosha and Manipushpaka.
The King of Kashi, excellent archer; Sikhandi, the great warrior; Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, the invincible Satyaki,
Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and the mighty-armed son of Subhadra, all blew their own conches, O Lord of Earth.
That tremendous sound reverberating throughout heaven and earth pierced the heart of the Dhritarashtra clan.
Beholding the dynasty of Dhritarashtra ready to begin battle, Pandava (Arjuna), he whose flag bears the monkey emblem, lifted his bow and addressed Hrishikesha (Krishna).
Arjuna said: O Changeless Krishna, please place my chariot between the two armies, that I may regard those who stand ready in battle array. On the eve of this war, let me comprehend with whom I must fight.
Arjuna said: O Changeless Krishna, please place my chariot between the two armies, that I may regard those who stand ready in battle array. On the eve of this war, let me comprehend with whom I must fight.
Here in this field (of Kurukshetra) I wish to observe all those who have gathered with desire to fight on the side of Dhritarashtra’s wicked son (Duryodhana).
Sanjaya said (to Dhritarashtra): O descendant of Bharata, requested thus by Gudakesha (Arjuna), Hrishikesha (Krishna) drove that best of chariots to a point between the two armies, in front of Bhishma, Drona, and all the rulers of the earth, and then said: “See, Partha (Arjuna), this gathering of all the Kurus!”
Sanjaya said (to Dhritarashtra): O descendant of Bharata, requested thus by Gudakesha (Arjuna), Hrishikesha (Krishna) drove that best of chariots to a point between the two armies, in front of Bhishma, Drona, and all the rulers of the earth, and then said: “See, Partha (Arjuna), this gathering of all the Kurus!”
Partha (Arjuna) beheld positioned there—as members of both armies—grandfathers, fathers, fathers-in-law, uncles, brothers and cousins, sons, and grandsons, and also comrades, friends, and teachers.
Beholding all those relatives arrayed before him, the son of Kunti (Arjuna) became filled with deep sympathy and spoke dolefully:
O Krishna, seeing these, my relatives, met together desirous of battle, my limbs are failing and my mouth is parched. My body trembles; my hair stands on end. The sacred bow Gandiva slips away from my grip, and my skin is afire. Neither can I remain standing upright. My mind is rambling; and, O Keshava (Krishna), 74 I behold evil omens.
O Krishna, seeing these, my relatives, met together desirous of battle, my limbs are failing and my mouth is parched. My body trembles; my hair stands on end. The sacred bow Gandiva slips away from my grip, and my skin is afire. Neither can I remain standing upright. My mind is rambling; and, O Keshava (Krishna), 74 I behold evil omens.
O Krishna, seeing these, my relatives, met together desirous of battle, my limbs are failing and my mouth is parched. My body trembles; my hair stands on end. The sacred bow Gandiva slips away from my grip, and my skin is afire. Neither can I remain standing upright. My mind is rambling; and, O Keshava (Krishna), 74 I behold evil omens.
O Krishna, neither do I perceive any worthwhile effect in slaying my own kinsmen in the battle. I crave neither triumph, nor kingdom, nor pleasures!
Of what use to us is dominion; of what avail happiness or even the continuance of life, O Govinda (Krishna)? 76 The very ones for whose sake we desire empire, enjoyment, pleasure, remain poised here for battle, ready to relinquish wealth and life—preceptors, fathers, sons, grandfathers, uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other kinsmen.
Of what use to us is dominion; of what avail happiness or even the continuance of life, O Govinda (Krishna)? 76 The very ones for whose sake we desire empire, enjoyment, pleasure, remain poised here for battle, ready to relinquish wealth and life—preceptors, fathers, sons, grandfathers, uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other kinsmen.
Of what use to us is dominion; of what avail happiness or even the continuance of life, O Govinda (Krishna)? 76 The very ones for whose sake we desire empire, enjoyment, pleasure, remain poised here for battle, ready to relinquish wealth and life—preceptors, fathers, sons, grandfathers, uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other kinsmen.
Even though these relatives should try to destroy me, O Madhusudana (Krishna), 78 still I could not want to destroy them, not even if thereby I attained mastery over the three worlds; how much less, then, for the sake of this mundane territory of earth!
What happiness could we gain, O Janardana (Krishna), 79 from destroying the clan of Dhritarashtra? The slaying of these felons would only put us in the clutches of sin.
Therefore, we are not justified in annihilating our very own relatives, the progeny of Dhritarashtra. O Madhava (Krishna), 80 how indeed could we attain happiness by killing our own kindred?
Even if these others (the Kurus), whose understanding is eclipsed by greed, behold no calamity in the ruin of families, and no evil in enmity to friends, should we not know to avoid this sin, O Janardana (Krishna)—we who do distinctly perceive the evil in the disintegration of the family?
Even if these others (the Kurus), whose understanding is eclipsed by greed, behold no calamity in the ruin of families, and no evil in enmity to friends, should we not know to avoid this sin, O Janardana (Krishna)—we who do distinctly perceive the evil in the disintegration of the family?
With the decimation of the family, the age-old religious rites of the family fade away. When the upholding religion is annihilated, then sin overpowers the whole family.
O Krishna, from lack of religion the women of the family become bad. O Varshneya (Krishna), 82 women being thus contaminated, adultery is engendered among castes.
The adulteration of family blood consigns to hell the clan-destroyers, along with the family itself. Their ancestors, by being denied the oblations of rice-ball and water, are degraded.
By these misdeeds of the family-destroyers, producing admixture of castes, the time-old rites (dharmas) of the caste and clan are annihilated.
O Janardana (Krishna), often have we heard that men devoid of family religious rites are most certainly committed to reside indefinitely in hell.
Alas! actuated by greed for the comfort of possessing a kingdom, we are prepared to kill our own kinsmen—an act surely entangling us in great iniquity.
If, weapons in hand, the sons of Dhritarashtra kill me, wholly resigned and weaponless in the battle, that solution will be more welcome and beneficial to me!
Sanjaya said (to Dhritarashtra): Arjuna, having spoken thus on the battlefield, his mind disturbed by grief, flinging away his bow and arrows, sat down on the seat of his chariot.