Sañjaya

Sañjaya is the son of Gavalgaṇa, a sūta (charioteer and bard) in the service of the Kuru court. He was the chief counsellor and charioteer-minister of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. His name comes from sañjaya, meaning completely victorious, or one who wins completely. He is one of the wisest and clearest voices in the Kuru court. He saw the adharma of the Kauravas’ course plainly and told the king so, often when the event was already past.

In the Sabhā Parva he sees the dice game and the departure of the Pāṇḍavas. He then tells Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the king saw everything clearly and still chose blindness. Sañjaya is best known from the Bhagavad Gītā. By the grace of Vyāsa’s divya-dṛṣṭi (divine sight), he told Dhṛtarāṣṭra the whole talk between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna on the battlefield.

At the dice game

Sañjaya was in the assembly during the dice game, among those who saw what happened. The text places him among the elders who saw Draupadī dragged into the hall and who sat in painful silence. Later he tells Dhṛtarāṣṭra how each Pāṇḍava left the city, as one who watched every detail. Yudhiṣṭhira went with his face covered. Bhīma stretched his arms wide. Arjuna scattered sand. Sahadeva’s face was covered with dust. Nakula smeared dust on his beauty. Draupadī wept, with loose hair and one garment.

The last dialogue of the Anudyūta Parva

The Anudyūta Parva ends with a talk between Sañjaya and Dhṛtarāṣṭra. The king was full of dread after the Pāṇḍavas had gone. He called Sañjaya and asked why he could find no peace of mind, even though he had won everything at the dice game.

Sañjaya did not comfort him. He told him: you have made great warriors your enemies through your son’s folly. The shame done to Draupadī was not only a private wrong. It will bring Kṛṣṇa, the Pāñcālas and all the allies of the Pāṇḍavas against you. The omens that appeared when Draupadī was dragged into the hall were clear: jackals howled, donkeys brayed and birds cried. Yet you went on.

In the same talk Dhṛtarāṣṭra admits his failure. He knows that the Pāṇḍavas are the stronger side, that peace (śama) is better than enmity (vigraha), and that Vidura had spoken the truth all along. He says to Sañjaya: “I have always wanted peace with the Pāṇḍavas. But my son’s wishes ruled me, and I could not stop what was done.” Sañjaya does not excuse him.

Udyoga Parva: the Yānasandhi mission (Chapters 47–71)

In the Yānasandhi Parva Sañjaya’s part grows large. He goes to Upaplavya as the Kaurava envoy. He carries Duryodhana’s position to the Pāṇḍavas, and then brings back Yudhiṣṭhira’s answer. During his visit to Upaplavya he meets Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa in private (Chapter 59).

Through all the talks of the Yānasandhi Parva, Sañjaya is the faithful messenger he has always been. He carries the words as he was told, reports back fully and truly, and never twists the position of either side. This is dūta dharma, the duty of a messenger to carry the words given to him exactly.

Bhīṣma Parva: the Bhūmi Parva and the reports of the war

The gift of divya-dṛṣṭi

In the Bhīṣma Parva Sañjaya’s part becomes very great. Before the war began, Vyāsa himself came to Dhṛtarāṣṭra and offered him divine sight so that he could see the war himself. Dhṛtarāṣṭra refused. He said he could not bear to see his kinsmen killed. Vyāsa then gave the divine sight to Sañjaya, with other great powers for as long as the war lasted:

  • No place on the battlefield would be hidden from him, near or far, by day or night, above or below, open or hidden.
  • He would know the thoughts of every warrior.
  • No weapon would strike or wound him.
  • He would not grow tired.
  • He would live through the whole war.

With this vara from Vyāsa, Sañjaya became the narrator who knew all about the war. He stayed in Hastināpura but saw and heard everything at Kurukṣetra as it happened.

The Bhūmi Parva

Dhṛtarāṣṭra asked: “Tell me about the lands that the warriors who have come here to fight belong to.” Sañjaya answered with the Bhūmi Parva, a long survey of the world in nine chapters (Chapters 4–12). He describes:

  • The two kinds of beings: jaṅgama (moving, living) and sthāvara (not moving, the plants). The twenty-four kinds of life. The five mahābhūtas (great elements) and their qualities in order.
  • Sudarśana Dvīpa. This is the Earth as seen in the disc of the moon. It is round and ringed by the Lavaṇa Sāgara. Its lands look like a rabbit (śaśa) and a fig tree (pippalī).
  • The six varṣa-parvatas (boundary mountains) of Jambū-dvīpa. Meru Parvata, 84,000 yojanas high and deep. The four islands around it, including Uttara Kuru.
  • Bindu Sarovara, and the seven streams of the Gaṅgā that flow from Meru. Mahādeva and Umā on the northern slopes of Meru.
  • Uttara Kuru: the earth is paved with gems, there are kalpa-vṛkṣas (wish-granting trees), and people live 11,000 years.
  • The rivers, mountains and peoples of Bhārata Varṣa.
  • How the four yugas show themselves in Bhārata.
  • Śāka Dvīpa, where Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa lives. Kuśa, Krauñca and Puṣkara Dvīpas. The seven oceans. The four Diggajas. The size of Rāhu, Sūrya and Candra.

So Sañjaya is more than a reporter of the war. He is also the voice through which the Mahābhārata gives one of its fullest teachings on the shape of the world.

The omens

Sañjaya also tells Dhṛtarāṣṭra of the terrible apaśakunas (bad omens) that came before the war. Flesh-eating birds gathered in flocks with joy. Corpse-fires ringed the sun and moon. Strange animals were born with extra limbs and heads. Statues laughed and vomited blood. Drums sounded without being struck. Horses went mad. The star Śani troubled Rohiṇī. Arundhatī moved ahead of Vasiṣṭha. All these were signs of coming ruin. Vyāsa also gave signs of coming victory for the Pāṇḍava side: clear fire with no smoke, flames rising to the right, and good birds and sweet scents.

Strī Parva: comforting Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Chapter 1)

The Strī Parva opens with Sañjaya at the side of Dhṛtarāṣṭra just after the war. The king was broken. He had heard that all his sons were dead, and he moved towards a pillar as if to dash himself against it. Sañjaya held him back with his own hands and spoke with great care so that the king would not harm himself.

His comfort in Chapter 1 is quick and practical, unlike the long teachings of Vidura that follow. He reminded Dhṛtarāṣṭra that his sons had died as kṣatriyas should die, in battle, weapons in hand, without giving in. He said that grief so strong that it ends in self-harm would only add to the sorrow and would rob the dead of honour. He urged the king to steady himself so that the funeral rites could be done.

Āśramavāsika Parva: with Dhṛtarāṣṭra at his departure (Chapters 1–5)

Sañjaya stayed beside Dhṛtarāṣṭra through the fifteen years the old king lived in Hastināpura after the war. At last Dhṛtarāṣṭra received the leave of Yudhiṣṭhira and Vyāsa to go to the forest. Sañjaya walked beside him on foot, with Vidura and Kṛpācārya, back to the king’s own house. There Dhṛtarāṣṭra gave Yudhiṣṭhira his talk on rājanīti (the way of kings).

Āśramavāsika Parva: the journey to the forest, Nārada’s word and the Pāṇḍavas (Chapters 15–20, 25)

When Dhṛtarāṣṭra left Hastināpura for the vānaprastha life (the life of the forest), Sañjaya and Vidura took vows to go with him. Each night of the journey to Kurukṣetra, Sañjaya and Vidura together made the beds of kuśa grass for the king, for Gāndhārī and for Kuntī. At the āśrama of Śatayūpa, Sañjaya kept the same austerities as the king (Chapters 15–19).

When Nārada came to the āśrama, he foretold that Sañjaya, who meditated without a pause on Yudhiṣṭhira, would reach svarga from that very place. He also foretold that Vidura would enter into Yudhiṣṭhira himself (Chapter 20).

When the Pāṇḍavas and all their company came to the āśrama, it was Sañjaya who named them all, with their gotra (family line), to the gathered tapasvins (ascetics). One by one he described to the ṛṣis, by their marks, Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīmasena, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva, Draupadī, Subhadrā and the other Kuru women (Chapter 25).

Āśramavāsika Parva: the forest fire and the escape to the Himālaya (Chapters 37, 39)

Two years after the Pāṇḍavas went back to Hastināpura, Nārada reported that Sañjaya had stayed with Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Gāndhārī and Kuntī at Gaṅgādvāra through all their tapas. He ate only once every third day. He guided the old, weak Dhṛtarāṣṭra over rough and level ground, dṛśyata-adṛśyataḥ, whether the king could be seen or not, as was right for his charge.

A great forest fire (dāvāgni) swept through the forest as Dhṛtarāṣṭra came back from his bath. The king himself told Sañjaya to flee to safety. He, Gāndhārī and Kuntī chose to stay and meet the fire together. Sañjaya alone escaped. Nārada later found him among the tāpasas (ascetics) on the bank of the Gaṅgā. After telling all he knew, Sañjaya went away to the Himālaya.

Sources

  • Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Anudyūta Parva, Chapters 80–81
  • Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapters 47–71 (Chapter 59)
  • Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma Parva, Chapters 1–23 (Bhūmi Parva, Chapters 4–12)
  • Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapter 1
  • Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapters 1–5, 15–20, 25, 37, 39