धृतराष्ट्र उवाच |
धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः |
मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ||1||
dhṛitarāśhtra uvācha
dharma-kṣhetre kuru-kṣhetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāśhchaiva kimakurvata sañjaya
“Dhritarashtra said: In the holy land of Kurukshetra, where the battle is set, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu, who have gathered there, do, O Sanjaya?”
The sacredness of Kurukshetra is detailed in Chapter 83 of Vanaparva and Chapter 53 of Shalyaparva of the Mahabharata. It is bounded by the river Sarasvati in the north and the river Drishadvati in the south, stretching five Yojanas (about forty miles) on each side. Situated south of Ambala in Haryana and north of Delhi, Kurukshetra, also known as Samantapanchaka, is where celestials like Agni, Indra, and Brahma performed austerities. King Kuru also underwent severe penance here. Dying at Kurukshetra ensures ascension to higher regions after death, earning it the name Dharmakshetra, or a holy tract.
Dhritarashtra’s words, “My sons,” refer to his hundred sons and the warriors on his side, while “the sons of Pandu” indicate the five Pandava brothers and their warriors. His inquiry reveals his desire to know the details of the terrible fight that had raged for ten days, the match-ups in battle, and the fates of those involved. Having heard of Bhishma’s fall, Dhritarashtra’s questioning does not stem from ignorance but from a desire to know whether the sanctity of Kurukshetra had reformed his sons, whether Yudhishthira had reconsidered the war, or what had transpired thus far.
Dhritarashtra is blind with the eye. But the absence of the eye does not extinguish lust; the absence of the eye does not erase desire. I wish! If Surdas had taken care of Dhritarashtra, there would have been no need to blink. Surdas had opened his eyes because without eyes, there would be no desire in the mind! Lust would not rise! But desire does not arise from the eyes; it arises from the mind. Even if the eyes burst or the body is injured, there is no end to lust.
This wonderful story of the Gita begins with the curiosity of a blind man. In fact, all stories in this world would cease if not for the blind man’s curiosity. All the stories of this life begin with the curiosity of the blind man. Even the blind man wants to see what he cannot see; even the deaf want to hear what they cannot hear. Even if all the senses are lost, the hidden instincts within the mind persist.
So, the first thing I would like to tell you is to remember that Dhritarashtra is blind, but his mind, sitting miles away, is eager to know what is happening on the battlefield. Secondly, remember that the blind Dhritarashtra has a hundred sons, but the offspring of a blind personality cannot have eyes; while they may see physically, they lack inner vision. Blindness can only lead to blindness. Yet, this father is curious to know what happened.
Thirdly, it is important to keep in mind that Dhritarashtra says, “gathered for battle in that Kurukshetra of Dharma.” The day we have to gather for war in the field of religion, the field of religion ceases to be a field of religion. And the day you have to fight in the field of religion, the possibility of religion’s survival ends. It must have been Dharmakshetra once, but today everyone is gathered there, eager to bite each other.
This start is also amazing because it is difficult to calculate what must have happened in the realms of iniquity. What happens in Dharmakshetra? Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya what his sons and their opponents, eager for war, have done. He wants to know.
The field of Dharma has probably never been fully established on earth because if Dharmakshetra were established, the possibility of war should end. The possibility of war is there, and if Dharmakshetra also becomes a battlefield, then how can we blame Adharma? The truth is that there have probably been fewer wars in the fields of Adharma and more wars in the fields of Dharma. If we start thinking in terms of war and bloodshed, then Dharmakshetra will seem more like Adharmakshetra than Adharmakshetra.
This irony is also worth understanding: wars have taken place on Dharmakshetra till now. And it has not started happening only today—do not think that today only temples and mosques have become bases for war. Thousands of years ago, when we say that there were very good people on earth and a wonderful man like Krishna was present, even then, people had gathered on the Dharmakshetra of Kurukshetra only to fight! This thirst for war, this desire for destruction, this beast hidden deep inside man does not leave even in the field of religion; it prepares for war there too.
It is useful to remember this, and also that when one gets the cover of religion to fight, the fight becomes even more dangerous because then it starts to seem justified. This religious text begins with the inquiry made by blind Dhritarashtra. All religious texts begin with the inquiry of a blind man. The day there are no blind men in the world, there will be no need for religious texts. It is the blind man who is asking questions.