Gita 01:19  The Pandavas win the mental battle before the physical battle

 

Audio Link 1: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/gita-01-19-the-pandavas-win-the-mental-battle-before-the-physical-battle/

 

sa ghoṣo dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṁ

hṛdayāni vyadārayat

nabhaś ca pṛthivīṁ caiva

tumulo ’bhyanunādayan

 

Word-for-Word:

saḥ — that; ghoṣaḥ — vibration; dhārtarāṣṭrāṇām — of the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra; hṛdayāni — hearts; vyadārayat — shattered; nabhaḥ — the sky; ca — also; pṛthivīm — the surface of the earth; ca — also; eva — certainly; tumulaḥ — uproarious; abhyanunādayan — resounding.

 

Translation:

The blowing of these different conchshells became uproarious. 

Vibrating both in the sky and on the earth, it shattered the hearts of the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

 

Explanation:

Here, the Bhagavad Gita is continuing with the description of the setting where the war is taking place. This verse describes the effect of the Pandavas blowing their conches.

 

– sa ghoṣaḥ dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṁ: That blowing of the conches—what is the effect on dhārtarāṣṭrāṇām, the soldiers on the side of Dhritarashtra? It’s an interesting usage of this name because this whole conversation is directed toward Dhritarashtra.

 

Sanjaya is indirectly telling Dhritarashtra: “This is what happened to your people, your sons, and those who are assisting them.” Sa ghoṣaḥ, that sound which was made by the conches blown by the various Pandava warriors.

 

– hṛdayāni vyadārayat: It shattered the hearts of the Kauravas.

– nabhaḥ ca pṛthivīm caiva: nabhaḥ ca – up to the sky and  

– pṛthivīm caiva – down to the earth, 

– tumulaḥ abhyanunādayan: The sound was tumultuous.  

– abhyanunādayan – From the sky down to the earth, the tumultuous sound resounded everywhere.

 

Now, the word tumulo was used earlier also when the Kauravas blew their conches. That was mentioned in text 13:

 

tataḥ śaṅkhāś ca bheryaś ca paṇavānaka-gomukhāḥ  

sahasaivābhyahanyanta sa śabdas tumulo ’bhavat

 

There’s a loud sound that is mentioned there also—a tumultuous sound. The word tumula is a cognate of the word “tumultuous” in English. So, the sound is mentioned as tumultuous, but the magnitude of the tumult is indicated more emphatically in this section for the Pandavas in terms of how far it spread and how much it affected. How far did it spread? It spread right up to the sky: nabhaḥ ca pṛthivīm caiva—all the way from the sky down to the earth everywhere, that sound resonated. And further, hṛdayāni vyadārayat—it shattered the hearts of the Kauravas.

 

We may get a question: How could Sanjaya see anyone’s heart? Sanjaya, even with his mystic powers, could observe what was happening on the battlefield. But was he able to observe what was happening in the hearts of people? Actually, he could have that mystic power also, but more important than that is the point that he was able to recognize it by their expressions itself.

 

There are times when we are shaken or jittery, but we try to conceal our fear. And there are times when we are just not able to conceal it. And there are times when you feel no fear, meaning the emotion is present, but the expression is concealed. The emotion is present, and the expression is attempted to be concealed, but the sharp observer can still see it. And the third situation is when the emotion is present, and it is seen, it is evident for everyone to see. In this case it was like that.

 

In this case, what was it like? It was like the overall declaration of war by the Pandavas. Through their blowing of conch shells, their intention became even clearer. Again, that fierce intention also shattered the Kauravas. In general, while fighting in a war, the morale of the fighters is equally important, if not more important than the war itself.

 

Sometimes, players (say, in a cricket match) play what is called mind games to try to get the upper hand over their opponents. Somebody might ask a player, “Are you feeling a lot of pressure?” And they might reply, “Yes, I’m sure my opponent is feeling a lot of pressure because I’ve crushed them in the past, and I’m going to crush them tomorrow also.”

 

Now, this confidence can, at one level, anger the opponent. But angering the opponent alone is not enough. Becoming angry is not enough. Even if you get angry, that anger has to be channelled properly for one to fight well. Sometimes, anger makes one impulsive and rash, which can become a problem.

 

In the mind games or mental battle before the physical battle, the Pandavas clearly come out as winners. By their formation and by their sonic proclamation—blowing their conches—they demoralized, shook, alarmed, and demoralized the Kauravas. Overconfidence is often a recipe for disaster, and Duryodhana had been marked by impudence, arrogance, and overconfidence. And right at the beginning of the battlefield itself, the consequence of that overconfidence became apparent.

 

So, in the first chapter itself, there is a precursor—a foreshadowing of what is going to happen at the end. Although in between, there is a dramatic twist in which the exact opposite happens, where it is Arjuna who loses his morale. Arjuna, who says, “I can’t fight,” soon recovers his morale and becomes ready to fight after hearing Krishna’s message in the Bhagavad Gita.

 

Thank you.