Chapter 1: Arjuna-viṣāda-yoga: – Transforming Grief into YogaVerse 2

Sanjaya begins to answer the King, by describing what exactly transpired in the battlefield after both armies arrayed there in their respective formations. Normally war cries would be raised and reciprocated, whereupon the actual battle, discharge of arrows, would start. But here the sequence was significantly different.

The first to move, says Sanjaya, was Duryodhana. He bypasses Bheeshma, the Grandfather, Commander-in-Chief of his army, who was supposed to lead and direct the army and all its moves.

But Duryodhana disregarded all that decorum. He went to Drona, his teacher, and began to speak. As a fighter and a great Knower, Bheeshma was unparalleled. Lord Parashurama, his teacher, had to retreat from him in war. It was such a one whom Duryodhana neglected.