The Gita opens with a question by the blind king Dhritarashtra to his trusted advisor Sanjaya, who is endowed with a divine gift of omniscience. The king asks Sanjaya to describe the events that are currently transpiring on a distant battlefield, where his sons (the Kauravas) are preparing to fight against the sons of his half-brother Pandu (the Pandavas) for control of the kingdom. Since the Gita is intended for oral recitation, explicit markers like "dhṛitarāśhtra uvācha" indicate a change in speaker, and are recited at a distinct pitch from the verse's anuṣṭubh meter.

kṣhetre

Dhritarashtra refers to his kingdom, the Kuru kingdom (kuru-kṣhetre), as a "land of Dharma" (dharma-kṣhetre). There are a wide range of translations for the word "dharma", with the most common being "duty" and "righteousness". The true meaning of dharma, similar to the Pali word dhamma, is a highly nuanced topic whose meaning is impossible to capture with any equivalent English word.

In the Mahabharata epic, the characters exemplify dharma in many ways - steadfast devotion to a divinely ordained duty, personal sacrifice for the sake of one's family or promises, and strict adherence to moral conduct in day-to-day affairs. The Bhagavad Gita is the climax of this story, where Krishna gives a detailed discourse on the nature of dharma and the core Hindu philosophy on the nature of reality.

samavetā

The Sanskrit word samavetā can mean both "material desire" and "moral compulsion". The Kauravas are the primary instigators of the armed conflict, blinded by material desire to retain full control of the kingdom. The Pandavas are fighting for a righteous cause, after their good-faith attempts at negotiation and peaceful compromise are rejected. This dual meaning of samavetā is found again in the 25th verse of this chapter.

māmakāḥ

Dhritarashtra refers to his sons as "what is mine", and most importantly, as distinct from pāṇḍavāśhchaiva (the sons of his half-brother Pandu). While his nephews are part of his family, and as the king he is meant to treat all his subjects equally, his dichotomy is a subtle reminder of the partiality that contributed to the events that were now unfolding.

Sanskrit Notes

Absence of articles

Sanskrit does not have articles like "the", "a", and "and". It also has a wider range of grammatical structures, and leaves a correspondingly wide range of interpretations for most verses. Some have interpreted this first verse as a rhetorical question to Sanjay - “in this kingdom, where we follow these high-minded principles, my sons and nephews have gathered to fight over my throne?” Others have interpreted it as a despondent question posed by a king who is clearly aware of his family's impending demise, especially in the context of previous events from the Mahabharata epic.