Welcome to the weekly talk on Transcendence.
I welcome you all.
Today we're going to start with the first sloka of the Gita,
Srimad Bhagavatam Gita to understand the plot of the Bhakti Yoga.
In this sloka,
Tritirastha said,
O Sanjaya,
After my sons and the sons of Pandu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukshetra,
Desiring to fight,
What did they do?
Bhagavad Gita is the widely read theistic science summarized in the Gita Mahatmya,
Glorification of the Gita.
There it is said that one should read Bhagavad Gita very scrutinizingly with the help of a person who is a devotee of Sri Krishna.
In this topic,
Tritirastha and the Sanjaya is discussing,
As described in Mahabharata,
Forms the basic principles of the great philosophy of Gita.
It is understood that this philosophy evolved on the battlefield of Kurukshetra,
Which is a sacred place of pilgrimage from the time immemorial of the Vedic age.
It was spoken by the Lord when he was present personally on this planet for the guidance of mankind.
The word Dharmakshetra,
A place where religious rituals are performed,
Is significant because on the battlefield of Kurukshetra,
The Supreme Personality of Godhead was present on the side of Arjuna.
Tritirastha,
The father of the Kurus,
Was highly doubtful about the possibility of his son's ultimate victory.
In this doubt,
He inquired from his secretary Sanjaya,
What did they do?
He was confident that both his sons and the sons of younger brother Pandu were assembled in the field of Kurukshetra for a determined engagement of the war.
Still,
His inquiry is significant.
He did not want a compromise between the cousins and brothers,
And he wanted to be sure of the fate of his sons on the battlefield because the battle was arranged to be fought at Kurukshetra,
Which is mentioned elsewhere in the Vedas as a place of worship.
Even for the denizens of heaven,
Tritirastha became very fearful about the influence of the holy place on the outcome of the battle.
He knew very well that this would influence Arjuna and the sons of Pandu favorably because by nature they were virtuous.
Sanjaya was a student of Vyasa and therefore by the mercy of Vyasa,
Sanjaya was able to envision the battlefield of Kurukshetra even while he was in the room of Tritirastha.
And so Tritirastha asked him about the situation on the battlefield.
Both Pandavas and sons of Tritirastha belonged to the same family,
But Tritirastha's mind is disclosed herein.
He deliberately claimed only his sons as gurus,
And he separated the sons of Pandu from the family heritage.
One can thus understand the specific position of Tritirastha in his relationship with his nephews,
The sons of Pandu.
As in the paddy field,
The unnecessary plans can be taken out,
So it is expected from the very beginning of those topics what is the religious field of Kurukshetra where the father of religion Sri Krishna was present,
The unwanted plans like Tritirastha's son Duryodhana and others would be wiped out and the thoroughly religious persons headed by Yurishthira would be established by the Lord.
This is the significance of the word Dharmakshetra and Kurukshetra apart from their historical and Vedic importance.
End of the first sloka.
