Chapter 1, Verse 2
संजय उवाच
दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस्तदा ।
आचार्यमुपसंगम्य राजा वचनमब्रवीत् ॥१-२॥
saṃjaya uvāca
dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṃ vyūḍhaṃ duryodhanastadā ।
ācāryamupasaṃgamya rājā vacanamabravīt ॥1-2॥
Saṃjaya said:
Duryodhana having seen the arrayed forces of the sons-of-Pāṇḍu, having approached the preceptor, then the prince spoke these words.
saṃjayas (stem form: saṃjaya) (masculine, nominative, singular) = Saṃjaya (preceptor of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and the narrator of the Bhagavad Gita)
uvāca (verb root: vac) (perfect, parasmaipada, 3rd person, singular) = one said
dṛṣṭvā (verb root: dṛṣ) (gerund) (indeclinable) = having seen
tu (conjunction) (indeclinable) = and
pāṇḍavānīkam (stem form: pāṇḍavānīka) (pāṇḍava + anīkam) tatpurūṣa compound, neuter, accusative, singular) = forces of the sons-of-Pāṇḍu
vyūḍham (verb root: vyūh) (intransitive past passive participle, neuter, accusative, singular) = arrayed
duryodhanas (stem form: duryodhana) (masculine, nominative, singular) = Duryodhana (eldest son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and main antagonist toward the Pāṇḍavā clan)
tadā (adverb) (indeclinable) = then
ācāryam (stem form: ācārya) (masculine, accusative, singular) = preceptor
upasaṃgamya (verb root: gam ) (upa + sam + gamya) (gerund) (indeclinable) = having approached
rājā (stem form: rājan) (masculine, nominative, singular) = prince
vacanam (stem form: vacana) (neuter, accusative, singular) = these words (a speech)
abravīt (irregular 1st class verb root: brū) (imperfect, parasmaipada, 3rd person, singular) = spoke
This verse is Saṃjaya’s reply to Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s question in the previous verse. Saṃjaya’s initial narration is of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s eldest son, Duryodhana, when Duryodhana is looking at the arrayed forces of the Pāṇḍavā forces and then turning to his preceptor to say something to him, which is documented in the next verses.
There are five vocabulary points and one syntax point that I will comment on. The Sanskrit word “tu” is usually translated as “but”, but “but” is not the appropriate translation in this verses given there is no contrary statements in this verse. “And” is a better translation of “tu”, which most translators use. Secondly, in my translation I am departing from the common translation choice of putting “and” before the phrase “...spoke these words.” in this verse. I prefer to use the Sanskrit word for “then” where most translators put the word for “and”. Note, most translators do not even put the word “then” or any equivalent to the word “tadā” that is in the Sanskrit verse in the English translation of this verse. I feel the placement of “then” before “...spoke these words.” gives balance and conclusion to the previous two gerund clauses that take up the majority of this verse. My translation in this matter gives the English translation a more Sanskrit syntax feel to it. I put the Sanskrit word for “and” between the two gerund clauses in this verse.
The Sanskrit word “upasaṃgamya” in this verse was a bit hard for me to figure out at first given there are two possible grammatical constructions for “upasaṃgamya”: a gerundive or a gerund. It was easy to disqualify the gerundive once I figured out that a gerund was a possible candidate and that I could find no instrumental case words in the verse. The tricky part was that the gerund form for the Sanskrit word “gam” has a prefix and a non-prefix gerund ending. Once I found this clarification in the Primer by the Goldmans, this part of the translation easily fell into place.
“Rājā” in Sanskrit can be translated either as a king, a prince, or a chief. “Prince” is the best translation here because “Duryodhana” is connected with the word “rājā” in this verse and “Duryodhana” is a prince given he is the eldest son and prince apparent to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra.
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