Original Sanskrit
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच ।
धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः ।
मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ॥ १ ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |
dharmakṣetre kurukṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ |
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya || 1 ||
Word-by-Word Meaning
| Sanskrit | Transliteration | Literal meaning | Contextual meaning | Grammar / notes |
| धर्मक्षेत्रे | dharmakṣetre | in the field of dharma | at Kurukṣetra, the sacred ground of dharma | loc. sg.; tatpuruṣa: dharmasya kṣetram, ‘field of dharma’ |
| कुरुक्षेत्रे | kurukṣetre | in the field of the Kurus | at Kurukṣetra | loc. sg.; named after King Kuru, ancestor of both branches of the family |
| समवेताः | samavetāḥ | assembled | gathered together | past participle of sam-ava-√i, nom. pl. m.; samavetāḥ + y- → samavetā yuyutsavaḥ |
| युयुत्सवः | yuyutsavaḥ | desiring to fight | eager for battle | desiderative adjective from √yudh, nom. pl. m. |
| मामकाः | māmakāḥ | mine, my people | my sons — Duryodhana and his brothers | possessive adjective formed from mama (‘my’), nom. pl. m. |
| पाण्डवाः | pāṇḍavāḥ | the sons of Pāṇḍu | Yudhiṣṭhira and his four brothers | nom. pl. m.; pāṇḍavāḥ + ca → pāṇḍavāś ca |
| च | ca | and | and | indeclinable |
| एव | eva | indeed | certainly (emphasis) | indeclinable; ca + eva → caiva |
| किम् | kim | what | what | interrogative pronoun, acc. sg. n. |
| अकुर्वत | akurvata | did (they) do | what did they do | √kṛ, imperfect (laṅ), 3rd pl., ātmanepada (√kṛ takes both voices) |
| सञ्जय | sañjaya | O Sañjaya | addressed to Sañjaya | voc. sg. |
Literal Translation
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: In the field of dharma, in the field of the Kurus, assembled and eager to fight — my people and the sons of Pāṇḍu — what did they do, O Sañjaya?
Clear and Faithful English Meaning
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Sañjaya, gathered at Kurukṣetra, the sacred field of dharma, and eager for battle, what did my sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu do?
