Shloka 1
भीष्मधनंजयद्वैरथम्
Bhīṣma–Dhanaṃjaya Duel and the Opening Clash
[दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठका १ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल ३१ “लोक हैं।] खनन नी तन ल्जनो गा द्विपञज्चाशत्तमो<ड ध्याय: भीष्म और अर्जुनका युद्ध ध्ृतराष्टर उवाच एवं व्यूढेष्वनीकेषु मामकेष्वितरेषु च । कथं प्रहरतां श्रेष्ठा: सम्प्रहारं प्रचक्रिरे
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | evaṁ vyūḍheṣv anīkeṣu māmakeṣv itareṣu ca | kathaṁ praharatāṁ śreṣṭhāḥ samprahāraṁ pracakrire ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Sañjaya, when the battle-formations of my forces and of the others (the Pāṇḍavas) had thus been arrayed, how did those foremost warriors begin the clash—how did they set the fighting in motion?”
ध्ृतराष्टर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames war as a consequence of deliberate human choices: once formations are set, the decisive ethical question becomes how leaders and ‘foremost’ warriors initiate violence. Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s inquiry highlights responsibility and the moral weight of beginning hostilities.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra asks Sañjaya to describe the opening of the battle after both sides have been arranged in their respective formations—specifically, how the leading fighters on each side commenced the engagement.