Sanjaya, assembled on the holy field of Kurukshetra, eager to fight, what did my children and the children of Pandu do?

Sanjaya Said : At that time, seeing the army of the Pandavas drawn up for battle and approaching Dronacharya, Prince Duryodhana spoke these words:

"Behold, Master, the mighty army of the sons of Pandu arrayed for battle by your talented pupil, Dhrshtadyumna, the son of Drupada.

"There are in this army heroes wielding mighty bows and equal in military prowess to Bhima and Arjuna, such as Satyaki and Viraja, and the Maharathi (great car-warrior) Drupada;

"Dhrshtaketu, Chekitana and the valiant King of Kasi, and Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Saibya, the best of men;

"And mighty Yudhamanyu and valiant Subhadra and the five sons of Draupadi, - all of them Maharathis (great car-warriors).

"O best of Brahmans, know them also who are the principal warrior on our side, the generals of my army. For your information, I mention them below:

"Yourself and Bhishma and Karna and Krpa, who is ever victorious in battle; and Bhurisrava, the son of Somadatta;

"And many other heroes, equipped with various weapons and missiles, who have staked their lives for me, all skilled in warfare.

"This army of ours, fully protected by Bhishma, is unconquerable; while that army of theirs, guarded in every way by Bhima, is easy to conquer.

"Therefore, stationed in your respective positions on all fronts, do you all guard Bhishma in particular on all sides"

The grand old man of the Kaurava race, their glorious granduncle Bhishma, cheering up Duryodhana, roared terribly like a lion and blew his conch.

Then conches, kettlerums, tabors, drums and trumpets suddenly blared forth and the noise was tumultuous.

Then, seated in a glorious chariot drawn by white horses, Sri Krishna as well as Arjuna blew their celestial conches.

Sri Krishna blew His conch named Panchajanya; Arjuna, his conch called Devadatta; while Bhima of terrible deeds blew his mighty conch Paundra.

King Yudhishthira, son of Kunti, blew his conch Anantavijaya; while Nakula and Sahadeva blew theirs, the Sughosa and Manipushpaka respectively.

And the King of Kasi, the excellent archer, and Sikhandi, the Maharathi (great car-warrior), Dhrshtadyumna and Virata, and invincible Satyaki did likewise. -

O lord of the earth, Drupada as well as the five sons of Draupadi, and the mighty-armed Abhimanyu, son of Subhadra, all of them severally blew their respective conches.

And the terrible sound, echoing through heaven and the earth, rent the hearts of Dhrtarashtra's sons.

Now, O lord of the earth, seeing your sons arrayed against him, and when missiles were ready to be hurled, Arjuna, son of Pandu, took up his bow and then addressed the following words to Sri Krishna: "Krishna, place my chariot between the two armies.

"And keep it there till I have carefully observed these warriors drawn up for battle, and have seen with whom I have to engage myself in this fight.

"I shall scan the well-wishers in this war of evil-minded Duryodhana, who have assembled here and are ready for the fight."

O King, thus addressed by Arjuna, Sri Krishna placed the magnificent chariot between the two armies in front of Bhishma, Drona and all the kings, and said, "Arjuna, behold these Kauravas assembled here."

Now Arjuna saw stationed there in both the armies his uncles and granduncles, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers and cousins, sons and grandsons, friends, father-in-law and well-wishers as well. Seeing all those relations present there, he was possessed by extreme compassion and uttered these words in sadness.

Arjuna said: Krishna, at the sight of these kinsmen thus arrayed and longing for battle my limbs give way, and my mouth is parched; nay, my frame shakes and hair stands on end.

The bow, Gandiva, drops from my hand and my skin burns all over my mind is reeling, as it were, and I am not able even to stand.

And Kesava, I see the omens also inauspicious; nor do I see any good in killing my kith and kin in battle.

Krishna, I covet not victory, nor kingdom, nor pleasures. Govinda, of what use will kingdom, or luxuries, or even life be to us.

Those for whose sake we covet the throne, luxuries and pleasures, - teachers, uncles, sons and even so granduncles, maternal uncles, father-in-law, grandsons, brother-in-law and other relations, - are here arrayed on the battle-field staking their lives and riches.

Krishna, I do not want to kill them, though they may kill me, even for the sovereignty of the three worlds; how, then, for this earth.

Krishna, what joy can we derive through slaying the sons of Dhrtarashtra? Sin alone will accrue to us as the result of killing these desperadoes.

Therefore, Krishna, it does not behove us to kill our relations, the sons of Dhrtarashtra. For how shall we be happy after killing our own Kinsmen?

Although these people, with minds blinded by greed, do not perceive the evil of destruction of one's own race and the sin accruing from enmity towards friends; why should not we, O Krishna, who see clearly the sin involved in the destruction of one's family, think of turning away from this crime?

Age-long family traditions disappear with the destruction of a family; and virtue having been lost, sin takes hold of the entire family.

With the preponderance of vice, Krishna, the women of the family become corrupt; and with the corruption of women, O Varshneya (descendant of Vrshni), there ensues an intermixture of castes.

Intermixture of castes leads the destroyers of the race as well as the race itself to hell. Deprived of the offerings of lumps of rice and water (Sraddha, Tarpana, etc.), the manes of their race also fall.

Through these evils bringing about an intermixture of castes, the age-long caste-traditions and family-customs of the destroyers of the race get extinct.

Krishna, we hear that man who have lost their family-traditions dwell in hell for an indefinite period of time.

Alas! Though possessed of intelligence we have set our mind on the commission of a great sin in that due to lust for throne and enjoyment we are intent on killing our own kinsmen.

It would be better for me if the sons of Dhrtarashtra, armed with weapons, killed me in battle while I was unarmed and unresisting.

Sanjaya Said : Arjuna, with his mind agitated by grief on the battle-field, having spoken grief on the battle-field, having spoken thus, and having laid down his bow and arrows, sank into the hinder part of his chariot.

Thus, in the Upanishad sung by the Lord, the Science of Brahma, the scripture on Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krshna and Arjuna, ends the first chapter entitled "The Yoga of Dejection of Arjuna."