Gita 1.12 

Audio link 2: The valorous grandsire stops politicking 

 

Link : Gita 01.12 – The valorous grandsire stops the politicking

 

tasya sañjanayan harṣaṁ

kuru-vṛddhaḥ pitāmahaḥ

siṁha-nādaṁ vinadyoccaiḥ

śaṅkhaṁ dadhmau pratāpavān 

 

Word-for-Word:

tasya — his; sañjanayan — increasing; harṣam — cheerfulness; kuru-vṛddhaḥ — the grandsire of the Kuru dynasty (Bhīṣma); pitāmahaḥ — the grandfather; siṁha-nādam — roaring sound, like that of a lion; vinadya — vibrating; uccaiḥ — very loudly; śaṅkham — conchshell; dadhmau — blew; pratāpa-vān — the valiant.

 

Translation:

Then Bhīṣma, the great valiant grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, the grandfather of the fighters, blew his conchshell very loudly, making a sound like the roar of a lion, giving Duryodhana joy.

 

Explanation:

 

With this verse the Bhagavad Gita transitions from discussion to action.  Discussion is also a form of action. But in a war, action basically means starting off with the activities directly signaling the commencement of war. The Bhagavad Gita  prominently begins with a discussion question in 1.1.  

 

Verse 1.2 is action where Duryodhana goes to Drona on seeing the formidable military formation of the Pandavas. From verses third to eleventh Duryodhana is assessing the two sides. In the 12th verse Bhishma feels enough of all this politicking. Duryodhana is thinking whose name should I mention first, whose names have I forgotten to include. He wants to ensure like a diplomat that everybody is encouraged and included. 

 

So, Bhishma thinks that this is enough now. Let us just begin the action. Bhishma is actually a great devotee and he wants to see how Krishna will wonderfully protect his devotees. At a kshatriya level, there is a natural thrill that comes when one has the opportunity to exhibit one’s kshatriya prowess especially when one has to deal with opponents who are heroic.  Just like sportsmen feel a thrill when they have the opportunity to perform, Bhishma is eager too.  

 

Bhishma is not a kshatriya, he is an exalted devotee. At the level of a devotee, he is eager to get on and to see how despite the heavy odds against the Pandavas (in terms of numerical strength, number of warriors, number of elderly experienced and powerful warriors), how will Krishna protect his devotees and ensure their victory? This is what Bhishma is eager to see. And that actually can be an explanation for the apparent impoliteness in the sense that he does not let Drona respond to Duryodhana’s statements. We don’t even know whether Duryodhana has actually by the eleventh verse completed what he wanted to say. More or less it does seem that he has spoken about both parties and has called upon his warriors to stay at their posts and protect Bhishma.  

 

We could say that he has completed his speech, but then he went to Dronacharya. Normally, when one is speaking to another person, a third person should not interrupt the conversation but should let the second person an opportunity to respond. There is no opportunity here for Drona to respond to Duryodhana’s speech because Bhishma blows his conch. Drona is also able to see the diplomatic games that Duryodhana is trying to play.  

 

Both Drona’s and Bhishma’s hearts are joined in one way that their duty calls them to go against their heart’s desire. They have been maintained by the Kuru dynasty, hence they are duty bound to fight on behalf of the Kuru dynasty. Of course, there are internal reasons also. Bhishma is fighting on behalf of Kauravas because Krishna wanted him to do so. Krishna wanted him to fight on behalf of the opponents of the Pandavas so that it could be demonstrated to the world that no matter how virtuous, valorous warrior one may be, if that warrior fights against the cause of God, then that person will lose. Bhishma was virtuous and valorous. He was learned in scripture, learned in warfare. The Mahabharata illustrates that because he was on the side against God, he would be defeated. 

 

Drona also had a similar compulsion. In one sense, Bhishma and Drona had a similar heart. And Drona also began to infer that he would not have wanted for any prolonged diplomatic discussion to go on. He would also want the action to get on. In one sense, Bhishma is not disrespecting Drona in any way by suddenly blowing the conch. And he’s the commander. Whatever discussions might be going on among different people when the commander calls, just like in a military,  whoever else might be talking, they have to stop and they have to come to the posture. Bhishma now says that there is enough discussion, let’s start the war.  

 

Duryodhana does not see this response  as an interruption. He actually sees it as a success in one sense, because his own goal was to ensure that his warriors are eager to fight. He feels as if he has successfully done the same because Bhishma is now blowing his conch shell vigorously. Duryodhana thinks that all my skillful speech has borne fruit and Bhishma is moved to fighting spirit. Therefore his jubilation increased. 

 

Kuru-vṛddhaḥ pitāmahaḥ   

 

Vṛddhaḥ means elderly. Bhishma was the pitāmaha, the grandfather. He was in the grandfather generation for the main protagonists of the Mahabharata i.e. the Pandavas and the Kauravas, who are both in the same generation. Generation above them is Pandu, Dhritarashtra and Vidura. Generation above them is Vichitravirya and Chitrangada, both of whom have died. Now their father was Shantanu, who had another son, Bhishma, through his first wife Ganga. In that sense Bhishma is in the generation of their grandfathers.  Generally whenever the word pitamaha is used, it refers to the grandfathers.  

 

The Pandavas are around 100-120 years old in this war. Duryodhana even has his grandsons. We will discuss more about that when we talk about pautrān (grandson) in the later verse (1.26). In one sense we could say even Duryodhana is the grandfather. So ,he could also be called pitāmaha. But every discussion has a reference point. Everything is discussed from that reference point. The reference point here is the Pandava-Kaurava generation and for that generation Bhishma is the pitāmaha and from that generation’s point of view, they themselves are around 100 years old. They would be considered creaking old creatures from today’s perspective. But this was in a previous age when people did have longer life spans. From their perspective, 100 years was still in the prime of youth, whereas Bhishma, with his age of 200 years or so, was much older. 

 

Yet Bhisma was fighting fit and he fought fiercely in the war that took place. The word “vrddha” is not in terms of any negative reference to indicate any kind of impotence that might have come because of old age, it is to express respect that he is an elderly person. 

 

And what did you do? siṁha-nādaṁ vinadyoccaiḥ. Nādam is a word associated with sound. Simha means lion. The lion-like sound was produced. Uccha means loud. So, it was a loud sound like the roaring of a lion. 

 

When a  conch is  blown, they would signal something important. We know of conch being blown at the start of an aarti and at the end of aarti. So the conch blowing often indicates the beginning of something important or something auspicious and it also is meant to invoke auspiciousness. Here, he is blowing his conch shell to signal the beginning of war. Naturally as per his kshatriya status, he not only has a powerful physique and powerful chest but also powerful lungs. Kshatriyas can give powerful speeches and command and they can also with their lungs blow the conch shell powerfully.  

 

So he blew the conch. And how did he blow?  Pratāpavān means he is a very powerful person. So, Vān is often a describer. Describer is used to indicate possession. Dhanavān refers to one who has wealth. Bhagavān refers to one who has bhaga, one who has many opulences. Pratāpavān is a very powerful person. 

 

Pratāp means valor and great strength. Pratāpavān means one who does valorous deeds. Pratāpavān means one who is the possessor of the valor or does valorous deeds. The  possession is not just abstract, it’s tangible because one has done many valorous deeds in the past. 

 

This verse is a strong glorification of Bhishma. There is simhanādam and pratāpaāan. Both indicate valor and power. Simha, a lion, is considered the king of animals. Later on in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna will say, Mr̥gānām Mr̥gendroham. Among animals I am lion. We generally think of Indra in reference to God, but here indra refers to the leader. So mrgendra refers to the king of animals. When the lion roars, all the other animals tremble in fear and flee or at least be very submissive and obedient. Bhishma is compared to a commander who is like a lion.

 

All the troops along with all the big generals now immediately turn and we will see that this will bring a response from them by following his blowing of conch shell. 

 

Essentially what this verse is stating here is more or less from Duryodhana’s perspective narrated by Sanjaya. Sanjay says, tasya sañjanayan harṣaṁ. Duryodhana was speaking various things and as he was speaking suddenly he heard the blowing of the conch shell. He looked up and he said, Oh jubilant! Bhishma is ready to fight –  harṣaṁ kuru-vṛddhaḥ pitāmahaḥ. He looked and he saw his elderly grandfather and what was he doing?  He was blowing the conch shell loudly like a lion. He was extremely powerful, formidable and  valorous . He now signals the beginning of hostilities with the blowing of the conch shell.