Chapter 1: Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Bhagavad-gita As It Is 1.23

yotsyamanan avekshe 'ham

ya ete 'tra samagatah

dhartarashtrasya durbuddher

yuddhe priya-cikirshavah

SYNONYMS

yotsyamanan -- those who will be fighting; avekshe -- let me see; aham -- I; ye -- who; ete -- those; atra -- here; samagatah -- assembled; dhartarashtrasya -- for the son of Dhritarashtra; durbuddheh -- evil-minded; yuddhe -- in the fight; priya -- well; cikirshavah -- wishing.

TRANSLATION

Let me see those who have come here to fight, wishing to please the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra.

PURPORT

It was an open secret that Duryodhana wanted to usurp the kingdom of the Pandavas by evil plans, in collaboration with his father, Dhritarashtra. Therefore, all persons who had joined the side of Duryodhana must have been birds of the same feather. Arjuna wanted to see them on the battlefield before the fight was begun, just to learn who they were, but he had no intention of proposing peace negotiations with them. It was also a fact that he wanted to see them to make an estimate of the strength which he had to face, although he was quite confident of victory because Krishna was sitting by his side.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness