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Bharata
Arjuna’s side of the Bharata family, who are battling their cousins (the Kauravas) to take back Hastinapura in the set-up to the Bhagavad Gita. The Pandavas are all “sons” of the king Pandu, but actually fathered by various gods who impregnate their mother, Kunti. They share a wife, Draupadi, who is a central character in the Mahabharata.
Pandavas Quotes in The Bhagavad Gita
The The Bhagavad Gita quotes below are all either spoken by Pandavas or refer to Pandavas. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Discourse 1 Quotes
The great cry
tore the hearts
of the Sons
of Dhritarashtra
the tumult
made the sky
and the earth
resound.
Related Characters:
Sanjaya (speaker), Dhritarashtra , Arjuna
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
8
Explanation and Analysis:
As the Pandavas and Kauravas line up on the battlefield, each side blows conch horns as a declaration of their presence, a show of force, and perhaps also an appeal to the gods. The Kauravas’ horns cause a commotion that pales in comparison to this earthshaking tumult emanating from the Pandavas’ divine horns.
Although Arjuna has not even begun to question his dharma at this stage in the Gita, the world’s response to his horn (and those of his brothers and allies) foreshadows Krishna’s favor to him and suggests that, despite their inferior forces, the Pandavas are divinely ordained to win the war. Indeed, when Krishna later shows his divine form, he unites the earth and sky as the world trembles, which recalls this moment. In both cases, the will of the divine becomes manifest through the responses of the physical and celestial worlds.
I see no good
in killing
my people
in battle,
Lovely-Haired Krishna!
Krishna, I long
neither for victory
nor kingship
nor pleasures.
Lord of the Cows,
what is kingship to us,
what are delights,
or life itself?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Pandavas Term Timeline in The Bhagavad Gita
The timeline below shows where the term Pandavas appears in The Bhagavad Gita. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Discourse 1
...asks his minister, Sanjaya, what happened when his sons (the Kauravas) met their cousins (the Pandavas) “in the field of dharma” to battle for the kingdom that both sides claim. Sanjaya...
(full context)
...their chariot, Krishna and Arjuna blow their own conch horns, followed by Bhima, the other Pandava brothers, and their ally, Drupada. All of the Pandavas’ horns are divine and specifically named,...
(full context)
...to the middle of the battlefield, and Arjuna sees his family on all sides. The Pandava warrior breaks down, telling Krishna that his body seems to fail him, and he cannot...
(full context)
Discourse 2
...to win, Arjuna says, for he would not want to continue living even if the Pandavas won. Yet he admits that his feeling of pity, sense of moral wrongness, and anticipation...
(full context)
Discourse 10
...itself among its possessors. He is the greatest of each people, including Arjuna among the Pandavas and Vyasa among the wise. He is authority among rulers, wise conduct among those desiring...
(full context)
Discourse 11
Arjuna saw all of the Bharatas, the Pandavas and Kauravas alike, enter Krishna’s mouth and get crushed between his teeth, like river currents...
(full context)
Krishna proclaims that he has come “to destroy the worlds,” for the Pandavas and Kauravas will die regardless of Arjuna’s presence. So Arjuna must fight for his honor...
(full context)
