
This is the significance of the words dharma-kshetre and kuru-kshetre, apart from their historical and Vedic importance.Ĭommentary by Sri Vishvanatha Chakravarthi Thakur of Gaudiya Sampradaya: As in the paddy field the unnecessary plants are taken out, so it is expected from the very beginning of these topics that in the religious field of Kurukshetra, where the father of religion, Sri Krishna, was present, the unwanted plants like Dhritarashtra’s son Duryodhana and others would be wiped out and the thoroughly religious persons, headed by Yudhishthira, would be established by the Lord. One can thus understand the specific position of Dhritarashtra in his relationship with his nephews, the sons of Pandu. He deliberately claimed only his sons as Kurus, and he separated the sons of Pandu from the family heritage. And so, Dhritarashtra asked him about the situation on the battlefield.īoth the Pandavas and the sons of Dhritarashtra belong to the same family, but Dhritarashtra’s mind is disclosed herein. Sanjaya was a student of Vyasa, and therefore, by the mercy of Vyasa, Sanjaya was able to envision the Battlefield of Kurukshetra even while he was in the room of Dhritarashtra. He knew very well that this would influence Arjuna and the sons of Pandu favorably, because by nature they were all virtuous. Because the battle was arranged to be fought at Kurukshetra, which is mentioned elsewhere in the Vedas as a place of worship – even for the denizens of heaven – Dhritarashtra became very fearful about the influence of the holy place on the outcome of the battle. He did not want a compromise between the cousins and brothers, and he wanted to be sure of the fate of his sons on the battlefield. In his doubt, he inquired from his secretary Sanjaya, “What did they do?” He was confident that both his sons and the sons of his younger brother Pandu were assembled in that Field of Kurukshetra for a determined engagement of the war. Dhritarashtra, the father of the Kurus, was highly doubtful about the possibility of his sons’ ultimate victory. The word dharma-kshetra (a place where religious rituals are performed) is significant because, on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was present on the side of Arjuna. It was spoken by the Lord when He was present personally on this planet for the guidance of mankind. It is understood that this philosophy evolved on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, which is a sacred place of pilgrimage from the immemorial time of the Vedic age. The topics discussed by Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya, as described in the Mahabharata, form the basic principle for this great philosophy.

It is the perfect theistic science because it is directly spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna. That is the specific standard of the Gita. One will find in the Bhagavad-gita all that is contained in other scriptures, but the reader will also find things which are not to be found elsewhere.

If someone is fortunate enough to understand Bhagavad-gita in that line of disciplic succession, without motivated interpretation, then he surpasses all studies of Vedic wisdom, and all scriptures of the world. The example of clear understanding is there in the Bhagavad-gita itself, in the way the teaching is understood by Arjuna, who heard the Gita directly from the Lord.

There it says that one should read Bhagavad-gita very scrutinizingly with the help of a person who is a devotee of Sri Krishna and try to understand it without personally motivated interpretations. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Gaudiya Sampradaya:īhagavad-gita is the widely read theistic science summarized in the Gita-mahatmya (Glorification of the Gita). Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pandu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukshetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?Ĭommentary by Sri A.C.
