BG 01.24 evam ukto hrsikeso... cited

Expressions researched:
"evam ukto hrsikeso" |"gudakesena bharata" |"senayor ubhayor madhye" |"sthapayitva rathottamam"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 1.24, Translation and Purport:

Sañjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, having thus been addressed by Arjuna, Lord Kṛṣṇa drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties.

In this verse Arjuna is referred to as Guḍākeśa. Guḍākā means sleep, and one who conquers sleep is called guḍākeśa. Sleep also means ignorance. So Arjuna conquered both sleep and ignorance because of his friendship with Kṛṣṇa. As a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he could not forget Kṛṣṇa even for a moment, because that is the nature of a devotee. Either in waking or in sleep, a devotee of the Lord can never be free from thinking of Kṛṣṇa's name, form, qualities and pastimes. Thus a devotee of Kṛṣṇa can conquer both sleep and ignorance simply by thinking of Kṛṣṇa constantly. This is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or samādhi. As Hṛṣīkeśa, or the director of the senses and mind of every living entity, Kṛṣṇa could understand Arjuna's purpose in placing the chariot in the midst of the armies. Thus He did so, and spoke as follows.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.24-25 -- London, July 20, 1973:

Pradyumna (leads chanting, etc.):

sañjaya uvāca

evam ukto hṛṣīkeśo

guḍākeśena bhārata

senayor ubhayor madhye

sthāpayitvā rathottamam

(BG 1.24)

Translation: "Sañjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, being thus addressed by Arjuna, Lord Kṛṣṇa drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties."

bhīṣma-droṇa-pramukhataḥ

sarveśāṁ ca mahīkṣitām

uvāca pārtha paśyaitān

samavetān kurūn iti

(BG 1.25)

Translation: "In the presence of Bhīṣma, Droṇa and all other chieftains of the world, Hṛṣīkeśa, the Lord, said, Just behold, Pārtha, all the Kurus who are assembled here."

Prabhupāda: So sañjaya uvāca. Actually Sañjaya, the secretary of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, he is relating the activities in the battlefield. Dhṛtarāṣṭra is blind. How in the battlefield the fighting was going on, Sañjaya was observing, either by television or a similar method. Otherwise, how he could explain things are going on in the battlefield in the room? This Bhagavad-gītā, Sañjaya explained, all activities in the battlefield, to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, within the room. So there must have been something like television or higher than the television, he was seeing within himself everything.

So scientific improvement is coming, but still on the material platform. Material means gross material and subtle material. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā:

bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ

khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca

ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me

bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā

(BG 7.4)

Earth, water, fire, air, sky, these five elements are gross material, everyone can see, gross. We can see earth, we can see water. We can see fire, air, or we can perceive the sky also. But there is subtle matter also. Mind, intelligence, ego. We cannot see the mind. We cannot see intelligence. I understand that you have got intelligence, or everyone knows we have got mind, but we cannot see. This is subtle. They are also matter, subtle matter. So the television is a machine made of gross matter, but there is possibility of making another machine of subtle matter. There is possibility. Because matter, they are also matter. That subtle matter machine is not yet discovered. But here we can see the subtle matter discovery was there. Otherwise, how Sañjaya could see the activities in the battlefield? This is to be understood. They are very much proud of material advancement of science, but still, they have to make advancement, subtle matter. And above that subtle matter, within that subtle matter, there is spiritual identity. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ, manasas tu parā buddhiḥ (BG 3.42).