Gita 01.02 – Duryodhana’s choice of conversant reveals his political intent
sañjaya uvāca
dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ
vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanas tadā
ācāryam upasaṅgamya
rājā vacanam abravīt
Word for word:
sañjayaḥ uvāca — Sañjaya said; dṛṣṭvā — after seeing; tu — but; pāṇḍava-anīkam — the soldiers of the Pāṇḍavas; vyūḍham — arranged in a military phalanx; duryodhanaḥ — King Duryodhana; tadā — at that time; ācāryam — the teacher; upasaṅgamya — approaching; rājā — the king; vacanam — words; abravīt — spoke.
Translation:
Sañjaya said: O King, after looking over the army arranged in military formation by the sons of Pāṇḍu, King Duryodhana went to his teacher and spoke the following words.
Explanation:
dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ – Duryodhana glanced at the armies of the Pandavas
vyūḍhaṁ – arranged in a military phalanx
Duryodhanas tadā – Duryodhana saw it. He was very confident that actually my army is much bigger than the Pandavas.
ācāryam upasaṅgamya – He went to Dronacharya
rājā vacanam abravīt – Duryodhana spoke. Sanjaya is speaking to Raja (King) Dhritarashtra, but he is referring to Duryodhana as raja (king). Why? Since Duryodhana is very good at rajneeti (diplomacy), he is referred herein as raja.
The previous verse ended with a specific enquiry from Dhritarashtra to Sanjaya: What happened (kim akurvat sanjaya)? So Sanjaya starts narrating this.
The warriors are in Kurukshetra; Dhritarashtra and Sanjaya are in Hastinapur. The events just before the battle was about to start are going to be described now. Two armies assembled on the battlefield are facing each other. Duryodhana beholds the forces of the Pandavas. His response is given.
Sanjaya speaks: dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ: he sees the Pandavas; vyūḍhaṁ: their phalanxes (military formations). Just like in a cricket match, a batsman has a stance. Seeing the stance of the batsmen itself, it’s understood that this is an aggressive batsman, this is a defensive batsman, this is a left-handed batsman, this is a right-handed batsman, etc. By observing the stance of the batsman, the captain of the opposing team gets to know the strategies/intentions of the batsman. If it’s a tailender batsman and if the batsman is just wanting to stay on somehow, then the stance will be very defensive. Accordingly, the captain sets the field and the captain comes up with the strategy of how the bowler should bowl. Similarly, whenever there is a war going to take place, the military formation gives an idea about the strength and the intention of the two warring military armies.
Duryodhana was extremely confident that he was going to win the war because he had great warriors like Bhishma, Drona, Karna, and he himself. In fact, he was so confident that he felt that there would not even be much of a match, his forces would easily crush the Pandavas. That’s why in order to incite the Pandavas, the previous night before the war started, he sent Ulooka, the son of Shakuni, with a message meant to goad the Pandavas.
Ulooka started trolling the mighty Pandavas with cutting remarks, “Bhima! you think you are going to kill me? I made you wash vessels in the kitchen of Virata.” Ulooka continued, “And Arjuna! you think that you are so powerful, but I made you into a eunuch.” Sequentially, he describes all humiliating situation that Pandavas had gone through. And he said, “This is how superior men punish inferiors who have the audacity to challenge them, and similarly I will crush you.” His goal was to insult the Pandavas so that they would have some fighting spirit. The Pandavas and their warriors were enraged and Arjuna said, “Only eunuchs speak words; tomorrow my Gandiva bow will give you a befitting reply.”
Duryodhana assumed that since the Pandavas were outnumbered and outmaneuvered, they would be cowering in fear. But when he saw the very strong and aggressive military formation of the Pandava army as if they were sure of their victory, he immediately became concerned. So, what happened after that?
Ācāryam upasaṅgamya, he goes to Acharya. The word Acharya generally means teacher, in Vedic tradition. Acharya can be referred to very exalted teachers also, just like we have Srila Prabhupada as the founder Acharya. The word Acharya generally means teacher and specifically a teacher who teaches by example. Drona who is being referred to over here is often known as Dronacharya; he was a brahmana. The brahmanas were allowed to teach both brahminical as well as kshatriya skills and other skills because they were essentially teachers. Normally brahmanas focus on teaching brahminical knowledge itself, but Dronacharya had not only taught kshatriya skills, but he had also mastered them to such an extent that he also would use those skills for fighting. He was here to fight on behalf of Duryodhana because he had been maintained by the Kurus and he was obliged to the Kurus. The currently ruling Kuru monarch was Dhritarashtra who was basically manipulated by his son Duryodhana.
Rājā vacanam abravīt, he spoke these words. The word “raja” can have two meanings. It can be a reference by Sanjaya to Dhritarashtra: “O King, I am telling you this.” In Sanskrit, we don’t have commas which are position markers and direction of communication markers. Hence, the word “raja” here can also refer to Duryodhana. Now, this reference is a little complicated because Duryodhana himself was not the king, although he acted in many ways as if he was the king, but the official king was Dhritarashtra. Certainly, while talking with Dhritarashtra, Duryodhana wouldn’t consider himself the king because he showed some normal respect at least to his father.
Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana explains that this raja here can refer not just to a king but one who is expert in rajneeti, diplomacy, politics. Such a person is called “raja”. What does this signify? If we look at the line of command, Bhisma is older in age to Drona and Bhishma is also the commander. Drona became the commander on the eleventh day after Bhishma fell on the tenth day. When Bhishma is the commander, why did Duryodhana go to Drona instead of Bhisma for consultation, cautioning, or directing? Duryodhana was always suspicious about the commitment of especially Bhishma and Drona because he knew that they were affectionate towards the Pandavas. Duryodhana of course wanted them to fight on his side knowing that they were formidable warriors, but he wanted to increase their commitment to him.
Now, Bhishma was vow-bound that he would always protect the ruling monarch of the Kuru dynasty. When he took that vow, he would never have thought that a day would come when the Kuru dynasty’s descendants themselves would be fighting against each other and he would be pitted on the side he would not have liked to fight. Bhishma was bound by his vow, hence his commitment to fight was sure. However, Drona was not bound by any vow of that magnitude. It is true that when Drona was in immense poverty, the Kuru dynasty had sheltered him, remunerated and honoured him, and given him the facility by which he had become a celebrated marshal teacher, not just in the Kuru kingdom but practically among all the warriors of his time. So, he was definitely grateful to the Kuru kingdom, but still he was not vow-bound. Hence, Duryodhana goes to Drona and speaks in a way that would burn away whatever affection Drona has towards the Pandavas and instead get him to fight wholeheartedly and furiously on his behalf. In the next verse, we will see how he presses the right buttons on Drona to manipulate him. He will refer back to an old rivalry between Drona and Drupada.
dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ
vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanas tadā
After seeing the Pandavas’ military phalanxes, Duryodhana approached his acharya (ācāryam upasaṅgamya), and spoke these words (rājā vacanam abravīt).
The words of a person who is an expert in rajneeti shows his expertise in rajneeti (diplomacy). A person may conceal oneself if one is well dressed, but when the person starts speaking, then the words spoken by the person are often windows to the heart of that person. If we want to gauge a person beyond his dress and designation, then his speech will help us in doing so. Duryodhana was evil, greedy, and envious, nevertheless, he also had diplomatic skills which will be revealed in subsequent verses from 3 to 11 where he will speak about the two forces, the Pandavas and Kauravas. Then, his speech will be cut off by Bhishma blowing the conch-shell. Of course, by this time, Duryodhana has almost completed his speech. These verses will demonstrate how Duryodhana was a shrewd expert at rajneeti. His shrewdness is also evident from his action when he goes to Drona instead of Bhishma as explained above.
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