their transcendental (superior) conchshells.
Lord Krishna blew His conchshell, called Panchajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of difficult tough tasks, blew his terrific conchshell called Paundra.
King Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, blew his conchshell, the Anantavijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosh and Manipushpak. That great archer the King of Kasi, the great fighter Shikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna, Virata and the unconquerable Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and others, O King, such as the mighty-armed son of Subhadra, all blew their respective conchshells.
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 Dhritarashtra.
At that time Arjuna, the son of Pandu, seated in the chariot bearing the flag marked with Hanuman, took up his bow and prepared to shoot his arrows. O King, after looking at the sons of Dhritarashtra drawn in military array, Arjuna then spoke to Lord Krishna these words.
Arjuna said: O flawless one, please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see those present here, who desire to fight, and with whom I must take on in this great battle.
Let me see those who have come here to fight, wishing to please the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra.
Sanjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, having thus been addressed by Arjuna, Lord Krishna drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties.
In the presence of Bhishma, Drona and all the other chieftains of the world, Lord Krishna said, just observe, Partha, all the Kurus assembled here.
There Arjuna could see, within the midst of the armies of both parties, his fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, and also his father-in-law and well-wishers.
When the son of Kunti, Arjuna, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became very emotional with compassion and spoke thus.
Arjuna said: My dear Krishna, seeing my friends and relatives present before me in such a fighting spirit, I feel the limbs of my body quivering and my mouth drying up.
My whole body is trembling, my hair is standing on end, my bow Gandiva is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning.
I am now unable to stand here any longer. I am forgetting myself, and my mind is loosing its balance. I see only causes of misfortune, O Krishna, killer of the Keshi demon.
I do not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle, nor can I, my dear Krishna, desire any subsequent victory, kingdom, or happiness.
O Govinda, of what avail to us are a kingdom, happiness or even life itself when all those for whom we may desire them are now assembled on this battlefield? O Madhusudana, when teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and other relatives are ready to give up their lives and properties and are standing before me, why should I wish to kill them, even though they might otherwise kill me? O maintainer of all living entities, I am not prepared to fight with them even in exchange for the three worlds, let alone this earth. What pleasure will we derive from killing the sons of Dhritarashtra?
Sin will overcome us if we slay such aggressors. Therefore, it is not proper for us to kill the sons of Dhritarashtra and our friends. What should we gain, O Krishna, husband of the goddess of fortune, and how could we be happy by killing our own kinsmen?
O Janardana, although these men, their hearts overtaken by greed, see no fault in killing one’s family or quarreling with friends, why should we, who can see the crime in destroying a family, engage in these acts of sin?
With the destruction of dynasty, the never-ending family tradition is vanquished, and thus the rest of the family becomes involved in irreligion.
When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Krishna, the women of the family become polluted, and from the degradation of womanhood, O descendant of Vrishni, comes unwanted children.
An increase of unwanted population certainly causes hellish life both for the family and for those who destroy the family tradition. The ancestors of such corrupt families fall down, because the performances for offering them food and water are entirely stopped.
By the evil deeds of those who destroy the family tradition and thus give rise to unwanted children, all kinds of community projects and family welfare activities are devastated.
O Krishna, maintainer of the people, I have heard by disciplic succession that those who destroy family traditions dwell always in hell.
Alas, how strange it is that we are preparing to commit greatly sinful acts. Driven by the desire to enjoy royal happiness, we are determined on killing our own kinsmen.
Better for me if the sons of Dhritarashtra, weapons in hand, were to kill me unarmed and unresisting on the battlefield.
Sanjaya said: Arjuna, having thus spoken on the battlefield, cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot, his mind overwhelmed with grief.
Now let me Summarize Chapter 1:
As both the armies stand well positioned for battle, Arjuna asked his charioteer friend Lord Krishna, to drive his chariot between the two armies so that he could see the Kaurvas army. Arjuna felt great compassion after seeing his relatives, teachers and friends on the opposite side ready to fight and sacrifice their lives. He must kill them to win the war. Overcome by grief and pity of having to kill his own blood relatives, Arjuna’s body started to tremble, his mind loosing its balance, he became confused. Arjuna got completely immersed in grief caused by attachment and delusion. He started speaking about the evils of war causing destruction of the dynasty; he simply refused and gave up his determination to fight.
I asked, “Can anyone tell me what’s wrong with Arjuna?” One participant replied, “Confused fight or not to fight”. The other said, “He thinks it’s better not to fight this war, this way he won’t need to kill his own blood relatives.” Another participant said, “He felt compassion when he saw his blood relatives ready to lay down their lives and properties to win this war.” One more participant said, “He was overcome with feelings of grief and pity”. One participant asked, “How is this relevant today?”
I said, “Let me share a story with all of you.
Special Horse That Always Wins The Race
One day at a restaurant, I happened to overhear a conversation between two friends. One friend said, “I am not able to stick to one relationship, I have changed three girlfriends in 6 months.” The other friend then said, “Let me share a story with you about a special horse that always wins the race.
Once there was a rich man who used to place bets on different horses in every race. Everyone was surprised to see him winning every time. So, one gentleman went up to him and asked him, “Sir what’s your secret to winning? How is it that you know exactly which is the special horse that will win the race?” The rich man smiled and said, “It’s a secret! When the horses are not racing, I keep a watch on them all the time, I talk to them and I also feed them.” The gentleman asked, “But
