Guest guest Posted January 17, 2000 Report Share Posted January 17, 2000 ================================ Om Sri mahAgaNAdhipatayE namaH | My salutations to Sri mahagaNAdhipati who is the protector of all good deeds... Om Srikrishna parabrahmaNE nama.h | My salutations to Lord Srikrishna who is the personification of the supreme brahman... Om bhava SaMkara dESika mE SaraNaM | I take refuge at the lotus feet of the great Adi Sankaracharya, the supreme teacher of the non-dual philosophy. I beg his permission, and humbly seek his blessings in order that everybody, who is going to read/participate in this Bhagawadgita yagna, will achieve peace, prosperity and highest wisdom... Om tat sat... Om namO brahmAdibhyO, brahma vidyA saMpradAya kartRbhyO, vaMSa RishibhyO, mahadbhyO, namO gurubhyaH || My humble salutations to all the mighty Gods starting from Brahma. My humble salutations to the sages who have created a syllabus for the supreme education (brahma vidya), My humble salutations to my forefathers - who are the Seers of my family roots. My humble salutations to all Great mahatmas known and unknown to the world. My humble salutations to my teachers.. aGYaanatimiraandhasya GYaanaaJNjanashalaakayaa chakshurunmiilitaM yena tasmai shriigurave namaH || Salutations to that guru who opened the eyes of the blind and cleared the darkness (cover) of ignorance with the wisdom of knowledge. Salutations to that guru, who is the Creator, Protector, and Destroyer and who indeed is the limitless Brahman ================================ Chapter 1. Arjuna-Grief [Commentary by Swamy Chinmayananda] Introduction. No other race in the world had ever harnessed do successfully the scintillating possibilities of the drama in literature for the purposes of philosophical exposition as the ancient Hindus. The Upanishads were recorded in the form of conversations between the teacher and the taught, in the quiet atmosphere of the silent and peaceful Himalayan valley. In the Geeta, however, the highest and the best in Hindu philosophy has been reiterated, in a more elaborate and detailed dramatic layout amidst the din and roar of a total-war. Krishna gives his message of manly action to Arjuna amidst the breathing, palpitating environment of the clash and carnage of a battle-field. The Kauravas, hundred in number, represent the innumerable ungodly forces of negative tendencies within man's bosom, and the Pandavas, no doubt, represent the divine impulses in him. A constant Mahabharata war is being waged within every one of us at all our crucial moments of action; and in all cases the negative forces in each one of us are larger in number and usually mightier in their effectiveness, while the inner divine army is ever lesser in number and apparently, comparatively weaker in efficiency. Therefore, every single individual, at the moment of his inward checking up, must necessarily feel the desperations of Arjuna. The story of the Mahabharata sounds an optimistic note of hope to man that, even though the diviner impulses are seemingly less in number, if the same are organized fully and brought under the guidance of the Supreme Lord, Krishna, the Self, then, under His guidance, they can easily be ushered into a true and permanent victory over the outnumbering forces of lust and greed. The Kauravas, representing the negative tendencies and the sinful motives in a mortal's bosom, are born as children to the old king, Dhritarastra, a born-blind prince, wedded to Gandhari, who had VOLUNTARY blinded herself by putting bandages over her eyes! Commentators are tempted to see in this a very appropriate significance. Mind is born-blind to truth, and when it is wedded to an intellect which also has ASSUMED blindness, the negative instincts yoked with low motives can only beget a hundred criminalities and sins! When, upon the spiritual field of self-development within (Dharmakshetra), the lower instincts and the higher ideals array themselves, ready to fight, a true seeker (the captain of the latter), under the guidance of his divine discriminative intellect, takes himself to a point on no-man's land between the two forces for the purpose of reviewing the enemy lines, without identifying himself with either the good or the evil in him. And, at that moment of his introspective meditations, the egoistic entity comes to feel a morbid desperation and feels generally incapacitated to undertake the great spiritual adventure of fighting his inner war with any hope of victory. This peculiar mental condition of a seeker is beautifully represented in the vivid picture of Arjuna's dejection in the opening chapter. In Sanskrit works, it is a recognized tradition that the opening stanza should generally indicate the whole theme of the text. The bulk of the book then discusses at length the different views and gives all possible arguments, until its concluding portion the last stanza generally summarizes the final conclusions of the Sastra on the theme indicated in the opening section of the book. In this way, when we consider the Geeta, we find that the Divine Song starts with the word 'Dharma' and concludes with the term 'Mine' (Mama); and therefore, the contents of the Geeta, we may conclude, are nothing but 'My Dharma' (Mamma Dharma). The term Dharma is one of the most intractable terms in Hindu philosophy. Derived from the root dhar (Dhri) to uphold, sustain, support, the term Dharma denotes 'that which holds together the different aspects and qualities of an object into a whole.'* Ordinarily, the term Dharma has been translated as religious code, as righteousness, as a system of morality, as duty, as charity, etc. But the original Sanskrit term has a special connotation of its own which is not captured by any one of these renderings. The best rendering of this term Dharma that I have met with so far is 'the Law of Being' meaning, 'that which makes a thing or being what it is.' For example, it is the Dharma of the fire to burn, of the sun to shine, etc. Dharma means, therefore, not merely righteousness or goodness but it indicates the essential nature of anything, without which it cannot retain its independent existence. For example, a cold dark sun is impossible, as heat and light are the Dharmas of the sun. Similarly if we are to live as truly dynamic men in the world, we can only do so by being faithful to our true nature, and the Geeta explains 'to me my Dharma.' In using thus the first person possessive noun, this scripture perhaps indicates that the Song Divine sung through the eighteen chapters is to be subjectively transcribed, lived, and personally experienced by each student in his own life. _______________ 'Dharanat Dharmam Ithyahu, Dharmena Vidhritah Prajah.' Verses DhRtarAshTra uvAca: dharma kshEtrE kurukshEtrE sama vEtA yuyutsavaH mAmakAH paMDavAscaiva kimakurvata saMjaya || 1.1 1.1 Dritarashtra said: What did the sons of Pandu and also my people do when, desirous to fight, they assembled together on the holy plain of Kurukshetra, O Sanjaya? In the entire Geeta this is the only verse which the blind old king Dhritarashtra gives out. All the rest of the seven hundred stanzas are Sanjaya's report on what happened on the Kurukshetra battle-field, just before the war. The blind old king is certainly conscious of the palpable injustices that he had done to his nephews, the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra knew the relative strength of the two armies, and therefore, was fully confident of the larger strength of his son's army. And yet, the viciousness of his past and the consciousness of the crimes perpetrated seem to be weighing heavily upon the heart of the blind king, and so he has his own doubts on the outcome of this war. He asks Sanjaya to explain to him what is happening on the battle-field of Kurukshetra. Vyasa had given Sanjaya the powers to see and listen to the happenings in far-off Kurukshetra even while he was sitting beside Dhritarashtra in the palace at Hastinapura. saMjaya uvAca: dRshTvAtu pAMDavAneekaM vyooDhaM duryOdhanastadA AcAryamupa saMgamya rAjA vacana mabraveet || 1.2 1.2. Sanjaya said: Having seen the army of the Pandavas drawn up in battle array, King Duryodhana then approached his teacher (Drona) and spoke these words. >From this stanza onwards, we have the report of Sanjaya upon what he was and heard on the war-front at Kurukshetra. When Duryodhana saw the Pandava-forces arrayed for battle, though they were less in number than his own forces, yet the tyrant felt his self-confidence draining away. As a child would run to its parents in fright, so too Duryodhana, unsettled in his mind, runs to his teacher, Dronacharya. When our motives are impure and our cause unjust, however well-equipped we may be, our minds should necessarily feel restless and agitated. This is the mental condition of all tyrants and lusty dictators. pasyaitAM pAMDu putrANA mAcArya mahateeM camooM vyooDhAM dRpada putrENa tava SishENa dheematA || 1.3 1.3. Behold, O Teacher! this mighty army of the sons of Pandu, arrayed by the son of Drupada, thy wise disciple. It is indeed stupid of Duryodhana to point out to Drona the army formation of the Pandavas. Later on also we shall find Duryodhana talking toomuch and that is a perfect symptom indicating the inward fears of the great king over the final outcome of the unjust war. atra SoorA mahEShvAsA bheemArjuna samA yudhi yuyudhAnO virATaSca dRpadasca mahArathaH || 1.4 1.4. Here are heroes, mighty archers, equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna, Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada, each commanding eleven-thousand archers. dRshTakEtu scEkitAnaH kASi rAjasca veeryavAn purujit kuMti bhOjasca Saibyasca nara puMgavaH || 1.5 1.5. Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, and the valiant king of Kasi, Purujit and Kuntibhoja and Saibya, the best of men. yudhA manyusca vikrAMta uttamoudAsca veeryavAn soubhadrO droupadEyAsca sarva Eva mahAradhAH || 1.6 1.6. The strong Yudhamanyu and the brave Uttamaujas,the son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi, all of them, divisional commanders. In these three stanzas, we have a list of names of all those who were noted personalities in the Pandava army. Duryodhana, reviewing his enemies standing in formation, recognizes very many noted men of war functioning as maharathas in the Pandava forces. A maharathi was in charge of a group of 11,000 archers, which formed a division in the ancient Hindu army. Arjuna and Bhima were accepted men of war, noted for archery and strength. These enumerated heroes were, says Duryodhana, each as great as Arjuna and Bhima, the implication being that though the Pandava forces were less in number, their total effectiveness was much greater than that of the larger and better equipped army of the Kauravas. asmAkaMtu viSishTyE tAnni bOdha dvijOttama nAyakA mama sainyasya saMjnArthaM tAnbraveemitE || 1.7 1.7. Know also, O best among the twice-born, the names of those who are the most distinguished amongst ourselves, the leaders of my army; these I name to thee for thy information. Addressing his master as 'the best among the twice-born,' Duryodhana now repeats the names of the distinguished heroes in his own army. A weak man, to escape from his own mental fears, will whistle to himself in the dark. The guilty conscience of the tyrant king had undermined all his mental strength. The more he realized that combined strength of the great personalities arrayed in the opposite enemy camp, the more abjectly nervous he felt, in spite of the fact that his own army was also manned by highly competent heroes. In order to revive himself, he wanted to hear words of encouragement from his teachers and elders. But when Duryodhana met Drona, the acharya chose to remain silent and the helpless king had to find for himself new means of encouragement to revive his own drooping enthusiasm. Therefore, he started enumerating the great leaders in his own army. When a person has thus completely lost his morale due to the heavy burden of his own crimes weighing on his conscience, it is but natural that he loses all sense of proportion in his words. At such moments of high tension an individual clearly exhibits his true mental culture. He addresses his own teacher as 'the best among the twice-born.' A Brahmana is considered as 'twice-born' because of his inner spiritual development. When born from his mother's womb man comes into the world only as the animal called man. Thereafter, through study and contemplation he gains more and more discipline, and a cultured Hindu is called a Brahmana (Brahmin). After all, Drona is a Brahmana by birth and as such he must have a greater share of softness of heart. Moreover, the enemy lines are fully manned by his own dear students. As a shrewd dictator, Duryodhana entertained shameless doubts about the loyalty of his own teacher. This is but an instinctive fear which is natural with all men of foul motives and crooked dealings. When we are not ourselves pure, we will project our own weaknesses and impurities on others who are working around us as our subordinates. [to be cont...] [Material provided by Lilia] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 19, 2000 Report Share Posted January 19, 2000 P.B.V.Rajan Gita Satsang.19th Jan 2000 HARI OM. I join many others on this list in felicitaing the organizers, moderators and contributors to the elucidiation of this vital core of our Hindu Philosophy and action Guide book. It is interesting and useful. As it is one of the more important "Products" made with great effort by the Advaitin Onelist, I suggest that it DEVELOP some special style to distinguish it. One of them could be the format below: 1) Gita : Introductory Summary (by different authors each time such as given by Shri. Devandra Vyas last time) 2) Gita Today: By Shri. Madhav & co (eg.Mon Jan 17th, Ch1 Vers: 1-7) 3) Summary of Gita so far: possibly by Shri. Ramachandran 4) Question & Answer forum this week: limited to last 7 days posting 5) Bibiliography on Gita worldwide (to be compiled- possibly the only area I can get involved with my knowledge limitations) This will help those who login in the middle for the first time or intermittently to get the feel of the communication. Such a valuable effort must be visible to a larger audience, more than just to those who follow it regularly & ofcourse gain more from it. I was not logging into the list for some 3 weeks earlier as I am away on vacation in Madras, so if these suggestions were mentioned earlier,My sincere apologies. I note the recent mail from Shri. Madhav not to repeat postings. >"Madhava K Turumella" <madhava >advaitin ><advaitin > > Bhagawad Gita - Ch.1 - Verses 1-7 >Mon, 17 Jan 2000 18:50:46 -0800 > > ____ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2000 Report Share Posted January 23, 2000 Greetings Advaitins: The summary is long and consequently it is broken into two parts and this is the first part: The entire chapter I sets the stage and introduces all the actors and their role. The real theme of Gita actually starts from Chapter 2. In Chapter 2, Veda Vyasa summarizes almost all the philosophical significance of Gita in a compact form. The rest of the chapters explains the philosophy of life in greater details in a FAQ (frequently asked questions) fashion. The list is quite pleased with your participation and hope you to continue with your comments and questions. Our membership is growing steadily and currently we have close to 225 members and quite a few new comers have moved in to listen and participate in Gita Satsang. Let me take this opportunity to introduce to you the current team of Volunteers without whom it is impossible for this list to undertake this monumental task: Gita Satsang Team of Volunteers: Sri Madhava Turumella (Coordinator) Sri Gummuluru Murthi Sri Devendra Vyas Sri Shankar Sri Sundar Hatangadi Sri Frank Meillo Sri Greg Goode Sri Anand Natarajan Sri Kuntimaddi Sadananda Srimathi Lilia Stepanova Sri. Ram Chandran This list will be updated if and when more members come forward to make committments in participation and contribution. I also want to recognize Sri Ruben for his valuable contribution on Mahabharata Wisdom. Please contact me if you want to join the Gita Satsang Team of volunteers. I also request all the above volunteers to share their thoughts and suggestions to the list and also to the coordinator. Enclosed below is a report from Madhavaji. regards, Ram Chandran =============================== The Report from the Coordinator =============================== Sri Shankar has been regularly sending Sri Shankara bhasya, translated by Sri Warrior. My heart felt gratitude to him. May the Almighty bless him with all prosperity and peace. Also, our talks with the Gita Super site has finally showing up result. They sent the entire Gita slokas yesterday and they will be sending Swamy Gambhirananda's translation tomorrow. Also they agreed to give us Swamy Chinmayananda's commentary. (Lilia: God bless you for your ready support. It seems the Almighty didn't want you to take trouble in typing all that text again :-)) I should receive it in a few days. I have spoken over phone to Prof. Prabhakar, a noble soul, who is the spirit behind Gita Supersite at IIT, Kanpur. He is more than helpful. Let us acknowledge them on every Gita posting by showing a link to their Gita super site. Here are the texts that we expect from Gita Supersite in a few days: * Adi Sankara Bhashya: (Shankar: providing me regularly with Sri Warrior's translation ) FROM GITA SUPERSITE: * Adi Sankara Bhashya: Swamy Gambhirananda's translation (Thank you Devendra for bringing us the permission from Ramakrishna Muth for using this translation) * Commentary by Swamy Chinmayananda (We have received blessings and permission from CCMT for using this) how ever I was unable to download the file, I have requested Sri Prabhakar to send it as an attachment with any message. We are still in the process of discussions with ArshaVidyaGurukulam, we hope to get some material in a few days. Sri Ramchandranji is co-ordinating on this issue. ================================================================ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 23, 2000 Report Share Posted January 23, 2000 Gita Satsang First Week Summary =============================== The First Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita focuses on the basic difficulties which a spiritual seeker may face in the long run, in spite of the preparations that he might have made with all his logical conclusions and sincerity of purpose. In the earlier stages of our aspirations we do not fully realize the problems that are hidden deep, invisibly beneath the outer layers of our personality, not directly connected with our daily life. We have an unconscious personality apart from the conscious one limited to this bodily existence, and this unconscious level of ours is larger in its content than the little expression of it we visualize out side as the body and its sensory relations. There are fears of various types which keep us secretly unhappy, and many of the activities of life in the conscious level are attempts to brush aside these fears; and then we imagine that they do not exist at all. We occupy ourselves so busily with works of various types as a kind of outlet or counteracting power against these fears, usually known in the language of psychology as `defense mechanisms.' We protect our selves by certain psychic mechanisms which we have formed within ourselves as a kind of self-deception, we may say, finally. 'this is the attitude of the ostrich which buries its head in the sand when it is threatened with any kind of fear outside. It hides its head in the sand so that it cannot see things outside, and when nothing is seen outside, it thinks that nothing exists outside. This is not merely the ostrich's way, but, perhaps, the attitude of every human being when he is faced with insoluble difficulties. The problems are mostly in the unconscious level; they are not always on the conscious surface. It may not appear to us that they exist at all. We are comfortably placed in a sensory world wherein the senses are fed to surfeit and they keep us completely ignorant of the dangerous abyss through which we may have to pass in the future stages of our life. We are brain-washed by the impetuous activities of the senses to such an extent that we cannot be aware of what is ahead of us, what may happen tomorrow. Because, if we can be awakened to the fact of all things that are to be faced in the future, we may perish just now with a fear of it, and Nature does not want anybody to die like that, and defeat its purpose. Nature keeps everything as a secret and lets the cat out of the bag only when necessary. The first seven verses introduce the audience with the stage and its performers. The following detailed explanation is taken from Bhagavadgita Multimedia CD produced by Multimedia Station Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, India. The producer has given me permission to post relevant notes with acknowledgement. I find these details will be helpful for those who are not familiar with Mahabharata. Chapter 83 of Vanaparva, and Chapter 53 of Salyaparva, of the Mahabharata, contain detailed disquisition's on the sacredness of Kurukshetra. It has been described as bounded by the river Sarasvati in the north, and the river Drsadvati in the south. It is said that the length and breadth of the area were five Yojanas each, corresponding to forty miles on each side. The present geographical position of the place is south of Ambala in the Haryana and north of Delhi. A small town, named Kurukshetra, is even now situated at the place. There is another name, Samantapancka, by which the locality is designated. The Satapatha-Brahmana and other sacred books mention it as the place where celestials like Agni, Indra and Brahma performed their austerities. King Kuru also performed severe austerities at this very place. Those who die here go to the higher regions after death. For these and similar other reasons `Kurukshetra' is called a Dharma-Ksetra, or Punya-Ksetra a `holy tract'. By the word `Mamakah, (my children) Dhrtarastra refers to his hundred sons and all the warriors on his side. And by the word `Pandavah' (the children of Pandu), he means the five Pandava brothers, Yudhisthira and others, and all the warriors on their side. The interrogation in the verse shows Dhrtarastra's desire to know in detail the account of the terrible fight which had raged for ten days previous to this; how the assembled fighters started the battle, who was matched with whom in the fighting array, and who was killed by whom, on what date and by what means, etc. Dhrtarastra wanted to know whether the sanctity of the `holy land' or Kurukshetra had reformed the mind of his sons, inducing them to make peace with the Pandavas by conceding to the latter their right to their kingdom, or whether the righteous King Yudhisthira himself, being influenced by the holiness of the tract, had walked out of the fight, or whether both the armies had, till then, remained arrayed in battle in their respective positions, and no fight had yet taken place, or, if there had been a fight, what was its result, etc. Sanjaya refers to Duryodhana as `Raja', or King. The following may be the reasons for it:- (a) Duryodhana was an eminent hero and a great statesman and was actually running the whole Government. (b) It is the nature of saints to show respect to all, and Sanjaya was a man of saintly character. © An epithet of respect applied to the son would bring pleasure to Dhrtarastra's heart. The Pandava army had been arrayed in such a peculiar manner that its very sight startled Duryodhana, and in an anxious mood he hastened himself to inform Dronacharya about it. His idea was that after an examination of the formation of the Pandava army, the great Teacher of Military Science, Drona, would advise Bhisma, the Chief Commander, to form a battle-array which would be better and more impregnable than that of the Pandava army. Though the grand old man Bhisma was the Chief Commander of the Kaurava army, the position which Guru Dronacharya held in that army was also very high and responsible. In an army the position allotted to a commander must be maintained by him; he cannot quit his position without throwing the army into disorder. Therefore, though exercising the authority of the King, Duryodhana considered it better to go to Dronacharya himself, rather than summon the Acarya to him and thus remove him from his allotted place in the army. Over and above this, Dronacharya was old in age and advanced in knowledge, and being the Teacher of the Kurus was worthy of respect and honor. Again, Duryodhana had to use the Acarya as an instrument for serving his own selfish end, for this as well it was desirable to secure the goodwill of the Acarya by proper exhibition of honor. From the spiritual point of view, it is one's duty to show humility and respect to one's conduct towards every other being; nay, in politics as well, a shrewd and clever man in order to get his purpose served shows respect to others. From all these points of view, it was but meets and proper for Duryodhana to go to Dronacharya himself. As a diplomat, Duryodhana was exceptionally clever. To excite Dronacharya by rousing his revengeful spirit against Dhrstadyumna and ire against the Pandavas, he referred to Dhrstadyumna as Drupada's son and "your talented pupil." By these words he reminded Drona of Drupada's ugly behavior towards him in the long past, and then of his getting Dhrstadyumna as his son by the performance of a sacrifice with the unholy motive of killing Drona. By implication, he also said that Dhrstadyumna was so clever and the Acarya so simple that though born to `a mighty king, he had obtained from him instructions in the science and art of archery. And, then, how skillful and dexterous he was to array his army in such a way as to baffle his opponents ! It was such a person whom the Pandavas had made their Supreme Commander. It was now for the Acarya to consider what should be his duty. The Kaurava army consisted of eleven Aksauhinis,* and the Pandava army only of seven. Though numerically smaller, the Pandava army appeared very huge because of its adoption of the military array known as `Vajravyuha'. Besides, a smaller army might be more powerful than a larger, if its organization was better and more efficient than that of the larger army. That is why calling the army of the Pandavas army' Duryodhana attempted to draw the Acarya's attention to it, and appealed to him to devise some means of getting the better of it. The term `Yudhi' in verse 4 cannot be interpreted as the substantive of `Atra', as some are prone to take it; for the battle had not actually commenced till then. Besides, the Pandava army having been referred to in the immediately preceding verse, the term `Atra' naturally refers to it, and no substantive is thus required to go with it. By connecting the word, `Yudhi' with `Bhimarjunasamah', it has been indicated that the famous warriors whose names follow equaled Bhima and Arjuna merely in prowess and proficiency in the art of warfare. The history and career of the warriors whose names appear in these verses are given below: Yuyudhana was the other name of Satyaki, who was Arjuna's disciple (vide Mahabharata, Udyoga-Parva, Chapter 81, verses' 5-8). He was the son of Sini, a Yadava Chief (Mahabharata, Drona-Parva, Chapter 114, verses' 17-19). He was very much attached to Bhagavan Sri Krsna and was a powerful warrior and an `Atirathi' who could fight any number of warriors single-handed. Having survived the Mahabharata War, he met with his death in the internecine feud that followed among the Yadavas. There was another Yadava warrior bearing the name of Yuyudhana, who is mentioned in Mahabharata Udyoga-Parva, Chapter 152, verse 6. Virata was the name of the virtuous king of the Matsyas. The Pandavas lived their life of one year's incognito existence under him. His daughter, Uttara, was given in marriage to Arjuna's son, Abhimanyu. Virata and his three sons, Uttara, Sveta and Sankha, were killed in the Mahabharata war. Drupada was the son of King Prsat of the Pancalas. King Prsat and Sage Bharadvaja were great friends; therefore, Drupada passed a certain period of his early days in the hermitage of Sage Bharadvaja, where an intimacy was formed between him and Drona, the son of Sage Bharadvaja. On the demise of Prsat, when Drupada had become king of the Pancalas, Drona went to see him on a certain occasion, and addressed him as a friend. But this was resented by Drupada, and Drona came away wounded at heart. Imparting the knowledge of archer both to the Kauravas and the Pandavas, Drona realized the preceptor's fee by having Drupada vanquished in battle by Arjuna in repayment of the insult he had suffered at Drupada's hands, and appropriated half of the latter's kingdom. Vanquished in battle, Drupada re-established his friendship with Drona only as a matter of show, nursing a grievance against him in the core of his heart. With the help of a couple of Brahmarsis, named Yaja and Upayaja, he performed a sacrifice with the motive of obtaining a son who would kill Drona. From the altar of that sacrifice sprang up both Dhrstadyumna and Krsna. It was this Krsna, who later on became known in history by the names of Draupadi and Yajnaseni, and whom the Pandavas married after winning her hand in an open trial of skill in archery. King Drupada was a great Ksatriya hero and vras counted as a Maharathi. In the Mahabharata War he was killed by Drona in an open fight (Maha.,Drona., Ch. 136). Dhrstaketu was the son of Sisupala, King of Cedi. He met his death at the hands of Drona in the Mahabharata War (Maha., Drona, 125). Cekitana was a Yadava hero belonging to the clan of Vrsnis (Maha., Bhisma., 84, 20), a Maharathi as a fighter and possessed of great prowess. He was one of the seven commanders of the seven Aksauhinis of the Pandava army (Maha., Udyoga., 151). He met his death at the hands of Duryodhana in the Mahabharata War (Maha., Salya., 12). The King of Kasi was also a great hero and a Maharathi. His name cannot be clearly made out. In the Udyoga-Parva, Chapter 171, his names are given as Senavindu and Krodhahanta. But in the Karna-Parva, Chapter 6, where his death is related, his name has been mentioned as Abhibhu. Purujit and Kuntibhoja were both brothers of Kunti, and maternal uncles of Yudhisthira and his brothers. Both of them met their end at the hands of Dronacarya in the Mahabharata War (Maha., Karma., 2,22,28). Saibya was the father-in-law of the righteous King Yudhisthira. (Adi-Parva, 95 ). He was not only a hero and a powerful fighter, but was also great as a man of character. That is why he has been called "the best of men". Yudhamanyu and Uttamauja were two brothers, who were princes of the Pancala territory (Maha., Drona., 130). In the formation of the battle array they were posted to guard the wheels of Arjuna's chariot (Maha., Bhisma., 15-19). They were both great fighters and heroes possessed of immense strength, therefore the two attributes 'might' and 'valiant' have been added to their names. They both met their death at the hands of Asvathama while asleep at night (Maha., Sauptika., 8,34,37). Abhimanyu was Arjuna's son, born of Subhadra, who was Sri Krsna's sister. He was married to Uttara, the daughter of Virata, King of the Matsyas. Abhimanyu received his training in archery from his father Arjuna, as well as from Sri Krsna's eldest son Pradyumna, and was a fighter of uncommon merit. On a particular day incourse of the Mahabharata War Dronacarya had adopted the military formation of Carkravyutha, 'Array of wheel', of such exceptional strength that even the foremost Pandava warriors like Yudhisthira, Bhima, Nakula, Sahadeva, Virata, Drupada and Dhrstadyumna failed to enter it, being worsted by Jayadratha, who kept the gate. Arjuna was engaged in fighting elsewhere. On that day the young hero Abhimanyu broke into that military formation of the Kaurava army single-handed and gave an exhibition of his exceptional military prowess by killing innumerable fighters on the side of the enemy. But Drona, Krpacarya, Karna, Asvathama, Brhadbala and Krtavarma-these six Maharathis of the Kaurava army, in contravention of the rules of war, surrounded the young hero, Abhimanyu, who even in that state dispatched, single-handed, many a fighter to his doom. In the end he was struck on the head with a club by Duhsasana's son 49). King Pariksit was the son of Abhimanyu. The names of the five sons of Draupadi were Prativindhya, Srutasoma, Srutakarma, Satanika and Srutasena, who were descended from the lions of Yudhisthira, Bhimasena, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva respectively (Maha., Adi.,221. 80-84). They were killed by Asvathama at dead of night (Maha., Sauptika.,8). A great hero exceptionally well-versed in the scriptures and the science of arms, and capable of commanding ten thousand bowmen battling together is called a Maharathi.* Separate and detailed description of the prowess of almost all the fighters whose names have been cited by Duryodhana in these verses can be found in the Mahabharata, Udyoga-Parva, Chapters 169-172. There also they have been described as either Atirathis or Maharathis. Over and above them, there were other Maharathis in the Pandava army, whose names appear in the above chapters of the Mahabharata. The term " Sarve" in verse 6 should be interpreted to include them all. The term `Tu' in the text has been used in the sense of `also'. Applying it after `Asmakam' (on our side), Duryodhana intends to say that not only in the Pandava army, but in his own army also, there were many great heroes and fighters. The word `Visistah, has been used to point out those who were supreme in his army in point of heroism, steadiness, strength, intellect, courage, prowess, energy and knowledge of arms. The verb `Nibodha' brings out that there was no paucity of such heroes and fighters of exceptional merit in his own army, and he was citing the names of only a selected few among them for the special knowledge of the Acarya, who was being requested to hear them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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