Bhagavad Gita 1.1
Spoken by Dhritarashtra ★ Essential verse · Verse 1 of 47
धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः। मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय॥
dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ / māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
Word by word (9)
- dharma-kṣetre
- — on the field of dharma / righteousness · kṣetra = field (also 'body' in Ch.13); dharma = righteous order, duty, the law that upholds the world. The opening word is not 'Kurukshetra' but 'Dharma-kshetra' — the Gita immediately frames the battlefield as a moral arena.
- kurukṣetre
- — at Kurukshetra (the physical battlefield in Haryana, India) · The actual historical battlefield. Named after King Kuru. The double naming — dharmakshetra AND kurukshetra — is deliberate: the outer (physical) and inner (moral) fields are the same.
- samavetāḥ
- — assembled / gathered together
- yuyutsavaḥ
- — eager to fight / desirous of battle · From yudh (to fight) + desire suffix. Not reluctant soldiers — they came wanting war.
- māmakāḥ
- — mine / my people (Dhritarashtra's sons) · Literally 'those who belong to me.' Dhritarashtra's blind attachment to 'my side' is revealed in this first word of possessiveness.
- pāṇḍavāḥ
- — sons of Pandu (the opposing side)
- ca eva
- — and also / as well
- kim akurvata
- — what did they do? / what was done?
- sañjaya
- — O Sanjaya (the narrator, gifted with divine sight by Vyasa)
Dhritarashtra, the blind king, asks his trusted narrator Sanjaya: 'Tell me — on this holy field of Kurukshetra, where my sons and the Pandavas have gathered, eager to fight — what happened?'
A modern analogy
Imagine a CEO, aware that a major internal conflict is playing out in the company, calling their advisor and asking: 'Tell me everything — what are my people doing, and what is the other side doing?' The CEO is not in the room but desperately needs to know. Dhritarashtra is blind — both literally and to his own partiality. His first words are 'my people' (māmakāḥ) — his attachment has already decided which side he's on before any answer comes.
What it does NOT mean
This is not merely a historical question about a war. Every teacher of the Gita from Shankaracharya onward has noted that 'Dharmakshetra Kurukshetra' refers to more than a physical location. The battlefield is also the human mind — where dharma (what is right) and adharma (what is wrong) are always in contest. The entire Gita unfolds as an answer to this one question.
Take with you
- The Gita begins with a question — the impulse to understand is the beginning of wisdom.
- Notice Dhritarashtra's blindness: he says 'my people and the Pandavas' — already dividing the world into mine and theirs.
- Every conflict in life has a dharma-field beneath it: the real question is always what is right, not just who wins.
- The opening word of the Gita is 'dharma' — righteousness. This frames every question that follows.
Public-domain translations (7) compare all →
Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjaya, assembled on the holy field of Kurukshetra, eager to fight, what did my people and the sons of Pandu do? [1]
Dhritarashtra said: What did the sons of Pandu and also my people do, O Sanjaya, when, eager for battle, they had assembled on the holy plain of Kurukshetra? [4]
Dhritarashtra said: In the field of righteousness, the field of the Kurus, gathered together, eager for battle, my people and the Pandavas — what did they do, O Sanjaya? [5]
Dhritarashtra said: What did my people and the Pandavas do when they had assembled on the plain of Kurukshetra — the plain of the Kurus — desirous of battle, O Sanjaya? [6]
Dhritirashtra: In Kurukshetra, the Holy Plain — where meet, Dhritirashtra, say, what wrought my sons? what wrought the sons of Pandu? Say, Sanjaya! [7]
Dhritarashtra said: What, in the field of Right, in Kurukshetra, assembled together, eager for battle, did my followers and the Pandavas do, Sanjaya? [8]
Dhritarashtra said: What did my people and the Pandavas do, O Sanjaya, when, desirous of battle, they assembled on the sacred plain of Kurukshetra? [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
I wish to know prakṛti and puruṣa, the field and its knower, knowledge and the Knowable — O Keśava!
This body is called kṣetra (the field); the one who knows it is called kṣetrajña — the field-knower!
Where yogeśvara Kṛṣṇa is, where archer Pārtha stands — there abide fortune, victory, flourishing, and steadfast dharma.
This most secret śāstra spoken — knowing it, one becomes truly wise and kṛta-kṛtya: all duties fulfilled.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
Duryodhana lists his greatest champions — and every name carries its own tragic irony.
Verse 1 of 47 · back to Chapter 1