Sacred Learning
Bhagavad Gītā 1.1 (vulgate; Bhīṣma-parvan)
Bhagavad Gītā 1.1 (vulgate; Bhīṣma-parvan)
Bhagavad Gītā 1.1 (vulgate; Bhīṣma-parvan)
Canonical source text
धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः । मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ॥
IAST transliteration
dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ | māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya ||
Close translation
On the field of dharma, at Kurukṣetra, gathered and eager for battle — what did my people and the Pāṇḍavas do, Sañjaya?
Reader-friendly meaning
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s question opens the Song. The field is named twice: as dharma and as Kuru’s ground.
Meenananda editorial explanation
A king asks what happened on a field of dharma. This Ashram hears every household question in that key.
Word meanings
- धर्मक्षेत्रे — on the field of dharma
- सञ्जय — Sañjaya
Gītā 1.1, eighteen-chapter vulgate numbering of the Bhīṣma-parvan Song. Sanskrit: public domain. Foundation translations: CC BY-SA 4.0.