Sanjay: The man who gave Bhagavad Gita to the world
What is Bhagavad Gita?
Bhagavad Gita is the dialogue between Krishna and Arjun on the battlefield of Mahabharata. Arjun asks Shri Krishna, who is acting as his Charioteer to take their chariot in between the two armies as he wants to see who all have gathered today to fight against him. On seeing his cousins and relatives in the opposing army camp, Arjun gets gripped with fear. He is unable to think as to what to do. In that state,
Arjun refuses to fight the war and tells Krishna that it is better to run away and live a life of a beggar than to kill his own family.
That is when Krishna speaks to Arjun and convinces him as to why he should fight even if it means killing his own family.
This knowledge which is imparted to Arjuna is in form of a dialogue and is known to the world as Bhagavad Gita
So what does Sanjay have to do with a dialogue between Krishna and Arjun?
Well, Sanjay is extremely important in the context of Bhagavad Gita, for he was the one who narrated Bhagavad Gita to the Blind King Dhritarashtra.
Let’s understand why?
Sanjay was an advisor to the blind King Dhritarashtra!
Dhritarashtra was the King of Hastinapur and the father of Kauravas who were fighting a war with their cousins Pandavas. Dhritrarashtra was blind since birth. He thus needed an advisor cum caretaker who could always be with him and aid in day to day jobs of a King, especially in decision-making.
Dhritarashtra’s uncle Bhishma, who is the most respected Royal in the family, knew the importance of having an advisor who could help the blind king in making decisions. He also knew that such a person should be of high integrity, trustworthy, highly intelligent, of high emotional intelligence i.e. EQ, and must possess the gift of language, for he was to advise a King, and his words would carry a lot of weight and will end influencing the decisions of the king. Thus he must be someone who could understand the emotions of people, along with the gravity and delicateness of the situation at hand, and convey the message in an honest yet diplomatic way to King, which aids him in decision-making. His job was to paint the correct picture, without any of his personal bias, yet be wise enough to put it forward in a language which makes the King listen.
Bhishma thus interviewed a lot of people across his Kingdom to search for such a man. He eventually found Sanjay, who wasn’t of a royal bloodline, but a Sut Putra i.e. Son a Charioteer. In the modern world, Sanjay would be called as son of a driver.
Sanjay possessed the power of Tele Vision
During the war of Mahabharata, Dhritrarashtra wanted to know what was going on, in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, between his sons and Pandavas. Since he was blind he couldn’t see for himself. Also, he wasn’t present on the battlefield but rather in his palace at Hastinapur, along with Sanjay.
Dhritarashtra requested Sage Ved Vyasa to give Sanjay power of Television so that he can narrate to him the proceeding of the war while sitting in the palace. He himself didn’t want the power, as he was afraid to see any of his children die.
Thus Sage Vyasa gave Sanjay the power of Television, owing to which Sanjay could see and hear the events happening far away on the battlefield of Kurukshetra as if he was witnessing himself in person. It is like seeing a live telecast of a Cricket match and also being present on the field in person where you even hear the players speak up close.
Gita is what Sanjay sees and hears!
Thus Sanjay was able to listen to the conversation between Krishna and Arjun as if he was also present there on the same Chariot along with Arjun as the third person.
He narrates everything, spoken by Krishna to Arjun, to the blind King Dhritarashtra, word by word.
However, we must understand that it is impossible to narrate a conversation between two people in the exact words which were spoken. Especially when it is happening right at that very moment.
Think about it!
The best one can do is to capture the essence of what was spoken and narrate it to the best of your understanding while still trying to be as accurate as possible in a literal sense.
This is where the genius of Sanjay comes to the rescue. He was doing the same job for the King. He was an expert a listening, understanding, and conveying messages and conversations. Thus there could not have been a better person than Sanjay to have narrated Bhagavad Gita.
However still what we read in Bhagavad Gita today are Krishna’s words spoken by Sanjay to the best of his own abilities.
Even the last verse of Bhagavad Gita says “मतिः मम” which means “That’s my opinion”.
This clearly highlights that Sanjay was trying his best to honestly put forward what was being spoken, yet it had his own subjective interpretation.
That makes who Sanjay is as a person extremely important!
The Importance of Sanjay
Sanjay understood Gita.
Sanjay as a person could be trusted, and due to his personality, even his words and interpretation could be trusted. That’s where Bhishma’s efforts really paid off. To even understand the knowledge of Bhagavad Gita, which is deep and complex, it required a man of not only high intelligence, but a person who is also spiritually evolved. It requires a person who can not only understand what is being spoken, but also understands the context in which it is being spoken, and thus captures the essence of the conversation, by understanding the true meaning hidden behind the words. Sanjay was an expert at it.
For the description is never the described
Sanjay’s words could be trusted
Sanjay not only understood Gita, but he was also able to convey it to Dhritarashtra, without any dilution. Only a man like Sanjay could have done it who was doing it for a living, and that too for the King of the nation, the most important man in Hastinapur.
There could have been many intelligent people who could have understood Krishna’s message, but none other than Sanjay could put it so clearly, and with so much eloquence.
Imagine yourself reading something deep, and recall the feeling you have when you understand it. Now imagine telling about what you understood to someone else. It is very difficult to put it in words, and even if you do, the coherence is often missing. But Sanjay here narrates it poetically. That’s the speciality of Sanjay.
Sanjay speaks the language of the common man
Sanjay himself was a commoner. He understood how a common man thinks and can speak their language. Naturally, his words would touch a common man for he himself was a common man, albeit more resolved. His voice had the honesty and also the vulnerability which a king could never express
Still, he could also speak the language of Kings. Thus Sanjay’s narration has an element of familiarity for he appeals to both the Kings and the common man.
Krishna was a King and so was Arjuna. Thus the conversation between them must have happened a bit differently. But Sanjay is able to capture the essence and is able to convey the in a manner any commoner can understand. This was his expertise, this was his genius.
That’s why Bhagavad Gita, while being very deep and complex, still has a universal appeal. The credit goes to no one but Sanjay.
We thus owe Bhagavad Gita to Sanjay, as much as we owe it to Krishna.
That was the importance of Sanjay for he was a man who gave the Bhagavad Gita to the world!
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