धृतराष्ट्र उवाच ।धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः ।मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ॥
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ |māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya ||
- धृतराष्ट्र · dhṛtarāṣṭra
- Dhritarashtra (the blind king)
- उवाच · uvāca
- said
- धर्मक्षेत्रे · dharmakṣetre
- in the field of dharma (righteousness)
- कुरुक्षेत्रे · kurukṣetre
- in Kurukshetra (the battlefield plain)
- समवेताः · samavetāḥ
- assembled together
- युयुत्सवः · yuyutsavaḥ
- eager/desiring to fight
- मामकाः · māmakāḥ
- my sons, my party (the Kauravas)
- पाण्डवाः · pāṇḍavāḥ
- the sons of Pandu (the Pandavas)
- च · ca
- and
- एव · eva
- indeed, certainly
- किम् · kim
- what
- अकुर्वत · akurvata
- did they do
- सञ्जय · sañjaya
- O Sanjaya (the narrator, gifted with distant sight)
“Dhritarashtra said: Assembled on the sacred plain of Kurukshetra, eager for battle — what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, O Sanjaya?”
— Original plain-language translation
The entire Gita unfolds as an answer to this one anxious question. Note the king's framing: he calls the battlefield dharmakṣetra, the field of dharma — already sensing that what happens here will be judged by a higher law than victory. His blindness is traditionally read as more than physical: attachment (māmaka, literally 'my-ness') clouds his vision, and Sanjaya's clear sight stands in contrast throughout.
— Reader's notes (original)