The Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1
Excerpts from God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita
by Paramahansa Yogananda
The Battle of Life
I:1
Dhritarashtra said: "On the holy plain of Kurukshetra (dharmakshetra kurukshetra), when my offspring and the sons of Pandu had gathered together, eager for battle, what did they, O Sanjaya?" [—Commentary]
I:12-13
Grandsire Bhishma, oldest and most powerful of the Kurus, with the purpose of cheering Duryodhana, blew his conch shell with a resounding lion's roar.
Then suddenly (after Bhishma's first note), a great chorus from conch shells, kettledrums, cymbals, tabors, and cowhorn-trumpets sounded (from the side of the Kurus); the noise was terrific. [—Commentary]
I:35
Even though these relatives should try to destroy me, O Madhusudana (Krishna),* still I could not want to destroy them, not even if thereby I attained mastery over the three worlds; how much less, then, for the sake of this mundane territory of earth! [*Slayer of the demon Madhu]
I:44-46
(44) O Janardana (Krishna), often have we heard that men devoid of family religious rites are most certainly committed to reside indefinitely in hell.*
(45) Alas! actuated by greed for the comfort of possessing a kingdom, we are prepared to kill our own kinsmen—an act surely entangling us in great iniquity.
(46) If, weapons in hand, the sons of Dhritarashtra kill me, wholly resigned and weaponless in the battle, that solution will be more welcome and beneficial to me!
