Sanjaya said, “O monarch Dhritarashtra, listen with a mind unattached to hope or despair as I recount the events. Your son Duryodhana sent Durmukha, Kripacharya, Kritavarma, Shalya, and Vivimshati to stand in support of Bhishmacharya. They stood around him like five perpetual fires guarding the commander of the army, resembling the sacred agnis of ancient…
Sanjaya, beholding the field of Kurukshetra through his divine sight, hastened to report, which only deepened the anxiety of King Dhritarashtra, who pressed him again and again for instant tidings, eager to know how the mighty warriors were faring while the younger combatants sported with weapons upon the field of death. Perceiving the king’s troubled…
Sanjaya’s subtle and poetic presentation of the cosmic form, and Arjuna’s presence of mind in the moment of trial, had no effect upon the blind monarch. He uttered not a single word on this rarest of rare events, leaving Sanjaya astonished at the workings of Dhritarashtra’s heart and mind. Gathering himself, he returned to his…
Arjuna’s question arises in a mood most fitting to the Lord, for the universe itself is fashioned through an unbroken rhythm of creation and dissolution. Today rises from the ashes of yesterday; childhood vanishes before youth appears, and when youth fades, old age is born. Behind this visible play of constructive destruction stands the fundamental…
The cosmic form of Sri Krishna filled Arjuna with awe and wonder. Step by step, he described what he beheld: the terrible mouth of death, blazing with fire and adorned with fearful tusks, into which all beings were drawn. Bhagavad Gita presents this revelation not merely as a supernatural spectacle, but as a profound disclosure…
Arjuna expressed complete satisfaction upon hearing in detail the glory of Sri Krishna, and his heart was filled with gratitude for the compassionate effort by which the Lord had drawn him out of delusion. He understood that the removal of error is not itself the attainment of truth, but only one stage in the process…
Śrī Krishna, with firm resolve to awaken Arjuna through the highest dimension of knowledge and experience, spoke thus: “Among the Vṛiṣṇis, I am Vasudeva. Among the Yādavas, the ancestor Yadu had a son named Vṛiṣṇi, and all his descendants together formed the tribe called the Vṛiṣṇis. In that lineage, Vasudeva was born as the great-grandson…
The trembling man of indecision in Arjuna had now developed an incomparable equipoise. This inward peace arose from intelligent surrender to Krishna, who was delighted by what he had heard from the Lord. Krishna then addressed Arjuna as mighty-armed, reminding the Pandava prince that he must be a hero in his inner life, carving out…
Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as the spiritual master, displayed a natural patience and understanding that equaled his intellectual daring, and he readily dispelled every doubt that arose in Arjuna’s mind. Yet he chose to go deeper, to burn the very seed of doubt, which is the greatest impediment to noble action. No mortal birth, he taught, is…
Being a perfect yogi, Krishna has no desire for achievement or gain in this world. Had he wished for a kingdom, he could have carved one for himself without effort, yet he stood on the battlefield only out of a sense of duty toward the noble and righteous cause upheld by the Pandavas. As he…
