Sampoorna Mahabharata • సంపూర్ణ శ్రీమహాభారతము • Episode 618

Episode 618: Bhagavad Gita begins
Arjuna said, “O King! Just as animals flee on spotting a lion, the Kauravas will flee on seeing Bhima. Just as Devatas seek Indra’s protection, under Bhima’s protection let us go to war. Bhima’s prowess is fearsome. None on earth can withstand him when he is enraged. Even the ocean will shrink when he takes up his mace and marches furiously. The Kekaya Kings, Dŗṣṭaketu & Chekitana match him in might. Look at the Kauravas & their allies watching you”.
He then said, “Bhima! Show your might” thereby filling all the warriors with great excitement. Arjuna created a diamond battle array. Bhima led from the front. Dŗśṭadyumna, Nakula, Sahadeva, & Dŗṣṭaketu stood beside him. King Virata stood behind along with his sons, brothers & friends & akshauhini army for Bhima’s protection. Nakula and Sahadeva stood as protectors of Bhima’s chariot wheels.
Abhimanyu & the Upa-pandavas were protecting from behind. Behind them was the chief commander Dŗṣṭadyumna along with the mighty Prabadrakas & other warriors. Behind him was Shikhandi who was being protected by Arjuna. They were focussed on killing Bhishma. Behind Arjuna was the mighty warrior Satyaki. The Panchala warriors Udhamanyu and Uttamauja were guarding Arjuna’s chariot wheels.
Dharmaraja was in the centre of that army which appeared like a mighty moving mountain. Drupada followed Virata with his akshauhini army. The golden flags atop their chariots glowed like the Sun and Moon.
Arjuna’s flag with the Hanuman emblem was far more effulgent than all the flags in the Kaurava & Pandava camps. Ahead of Bhima was a huge infantry equipped with swords & other weapons. Behind Dharmaraja were 10000 elephants as huge as mountains.
The Vajra array of the Pandavas was unconquerable. At dawn, the wind blew haphazardly throwing sand everywhere & rendering the area dark. Meteors fell. The earth trembled violently & cracked in many places. Thunder was heard from all directions. The dust storm blinded everyone. The flags atop the chariots began to swing violently.
Bhagavad Gita.
(Bhagavad Gita is the heart of Mahabharata. In fact, MB can be called the commentary for BG. It has its origins in the chaotic battlefield. Even human life is chaotic. ‘Remember me during difficulties. I incarnated only to uplift you. I will dispel your difficulties & uplift you’- this is the primary motive of BG.
Lord Krishna resolved that every human, including those who would be born in future, should benefit. So, using Arjuna as an excuse He taught the Gita. In the fight between good & evil, he wanted to grant victory to the good. So, in the battle, he took another incarnation as Bhagavad Gita.
Boasting, injuring others through words & deeds, being intolerant, & not having self-restraint are qualities of the ignorant. BG dispels them & converts the man into a supreme being. It dispels fear of death & gets the person to engage in meritorious deeds. Our lives are intertwined with the Gita at every step. Gita is a part of our life. Let us listen to Gita which will take us towards salvation).

Chapter 1
Shloka 1:
Meaning: O Sanjaya, after assembling for war in Kurukshetra, the land of righteous conduct (dharmakshetra), what did my sons and sons of Pandu do?
(Dhrtaraśtra could have said- what did the brothers do on reaching the field. Instead, he chose to say- my sons and my brother’s sons).
In that era, the great land called Mahabharata comprised all the land till the Bay of Bengal on the east, up to Simhala on the south, up to the present Iran and Iraq on the west and beyond the Himalayas on the north. Akin to the present United States, this land comprised many smaller kingdoms ruled independently. The mighty rope called Veda-dharma (the righteous rules stipulated by the Vedas), tightly tied down all these kingdoms and ruled them collectively as one kingdom.
As the terrible war was fought in the central (focal) point of this vast Mahabharata land, all the kings of the different regions had to choose between the Pandava and the Kaurava factions. Every king participated in the battle with his army.
The total strength at the war front was 18 akshauhinis, with 11 akshauhinis in the Kaurava faction, and 7 akshauhinis in the Pandava faction. What exactly is an akshauhini? It is a battle formation comprising of:
Warriors on chariots 21,870
Elephant mounted warriors 21,870
Soldiers on horseback 65,610
Infantry 1,09,350
Total 2,18, 700 warriors (in each akshauhini).
Note: In the above calculations, at every level, the numbers total 9. While the number of elephants was the same as the number of chariots, cavalry was thrice the number of chariots and infantry was five times the number of chariots.