Bhagavad Gita BG 1.1
Chapter 1, Verse 1 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच । धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः । मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ॥ १ ॥
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya
Meaning
Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjaya, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do when they assembled on the holy field of Kurukshetra, eager for battle?
Understanding
The very first verse of the Gita. The blind king Dhritarashtra, unable to witness the battle himself, asks his minister Sanjaya — who was granted divine vision by the sage Vyasa — to describe events. His anxious question reveals the moral conflict at the heart of the epic: he calls it 'dharma-kṣetra' (field of righteousness) yet knows it is a field of war between his own family.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| धृतराष्ट्र | dhṛtarāṣṭra | Dhritarashtra (the blind king) |
| उवाच | uvāca | said / spoke |
| धर्मक्षेत्रे | dharma-kṣetre | on the holy field of righteousness |
| कुरुक्षेत्रे | kuru-kṣetre | at Kurukshetra |
| युयुत्सवः | yuyutsavaḥ | eager to fight |
| मामकाः | māmakāḥ | my sons (Kauravas) |
| पाण्डवाः | pāṇḍavāḥ | sons of Pandu |
| समवेताः | samavetāḥ | assembled / gathered together |
| चैव | caiva | and also / and indeed |
| किमकुर्वत | kim akurvata | what did they do |
| सञ्जय | sañjaya | O Sanjaya |