London, July 16, 1973

Pradyumna (leads chanting, etc.):

anantavijayaà rä jä

kunté -putro yudhiñ ö hiraù

nakulaù sahadevaç ca

sughoñ a-maë ipuñ pakau

kä ç yaç ca parameñ vä saù

ç ikhaë ò i ca mahä -rathaù

dhå ñ ö adyumno virä ö aç ca

sä tyakiç cä parä jitaù

drupado draupadeyä ç ca

sarvaç aù på thivé -pate

saubhadraç ca mahä -bä huù

ç aì khä n dadhmuù på thak på thak

[Bg. 1.16-18]

" King Yudhiñ ö hira, the son of Kunté, blew his conchshell, the Anantavijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughoñ a and Maë ipuñ paka. That great archer the King of Kä ç é, the great fighter Ç ikhaë ò i, Dhå ñ ö adyumna, Virä ö a and the unconquerable Sä tyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadé, and the others, O King, such as the son of Subhadrä, greatly armed, all blew their respective conchshells."

Prabhupä da: So here Dhå tarä ñ ö ra is addressed as på thivé -pati, the lord of the world. På thivé, på thivé means this planet. So five thousand years ago, from the statement it appears that the king of Hastinä pura was the emperor of the whole world, på thivé -pati. One king, the whole planet was being governed by one emperor or king, and different parts of the world, other kings, subordinate kings, as they are named here, Drupada, then Virä ö a, Kä ç ya, in different parts of the world they came and joined. And each and every one of them possessed a different kind of bugle, ç aì kha. So they declared that now we are ready to fight.

And another significance of this verse is, Yudhiñ ö hira is also described here as rä jä. In the beginning Saï jaya informed Dhå tarä ñ ö ra that Duryodhana rä jä. So actually the fight is between the two kings. One side Duryodhana, another side Yudhiñ ö hira. One may not misunderstand, therefore particularly mentioned kunté -putra, this rä jä is Kunté 's son, kunté -putra. So Drupada, Mahä rä ja Drupada, the father of Draupadé, Draupadé was gained by Arjuna in competition. Draupadé, the daughter of Mahä rä ja Drupada is Draupadé. She is Draupadé. And her sons they are draupadeya.

So the grandfather, the grandsons, all of them were present, because they were allies. Mahä rä ja Drupada happened to be the father-in-law of the Pä ë ò avas. Draupadé accepted five husbands. When Draupadé was gained in the competition, they were incognito. The Pä ë ò avas were incognito. They were banished for twelve years, and after twelve years, one year they had to live incognito. Nobody would understand where they are living. So they took shelter at the house of Mahä rä ja Virä ö a.

So Virä ö a, at that time this Mahä rä ja Virä ö a's daughter Uttarä, was trained by Arjuna for dancing. Arjuna was appointed as a dancing teacher for the daughter of Mahä rä ja Virä ö a, Uttarä. So when it was discovered that Arjuna was not a dancing teacher, he was the great hero, Mahä rä ja Virä ö a wanted to offer his daughter, that you marry my daughter, because he was disclosed. So Arjuna said, " How can I marry this girl. I am her teacher. Therefore a teacher is to be considered as father, so it is not possible. So if you like I can get this girl married with my son Saubhadra, Subhadrä 's son."

Arjuna had another wife Subhadrä. That Subhadrä, you know, sister of Kå ñ ë a. Sister of Kå ñ ë a. So Subhadrä, Balarä ma, elder brother, Kå ñ ë a, younger brother. Kå ñ ë a wanted to hand over Subhadrä to Arjuna, and Balarä ma wanted to hand over Subhadrä to Duryodhana. So Kå ñ ë a could not say anything. The elder brother has decided. Therefore Kå ñ ë a advised Arjuna to kidnap Subhadrä. Just see how much Kå ñ ë a was affectionate to Arjuna that Arjuna liked also to marry Subhadrä, and Subhadrä also liked, but the elder brother did not agree. So they made a plan that Arjuna kidnap Subhadrä.

This kidnapping was allowed among the kñ atriyas, and fight. That is kñ atriya marriage. Unless there is fight, that marriage is not complete. The red vermillion which we apply, that is kñ atriya principle. After killing the opposite party, the blood will be smeared over the hair of the bride. That is conquer, victory. So in every marriage, Kå ñ ë a had 16, 108 wives, and each wife was married by fighting, beginning from Rukmië é. Rukmië é also, the first wife of Kå ñ ë a, the first queen, when Kå ñ ë a became king of Dvä rakä, she was the first queen. So Subhadra was kidnapped by Arjuna. Rukmië é was settled up to be married with Ç iç upä la. Ç iç upä la also happened to be Kå ñ ë a's cousin-brother, and Rukmië é did not like that she would be handed over to Ç iç upä la. She wanted to marry Kå ñ ë a. So she sent one letter to Kå ñ ë a that this is the position. " My brother Rukma, he has decided to hand over to me to Ç iç upä la, but I don't like. So please arrange for kidnapping." A brä hmaë a was sent to Kå ñ ë a.

That is also another responsibility of kñ atriya. If a girl proposes, " I want to marry you, " a kñ atriya cannot refuse, he cannot refuse. He must marry that girl, even at the risk of life. This is kñ atriya spirit. One rä kñ asé, she wanted to marry Bhé ma. So Bhé ma refused, she was a rä kñ asé. So she complained to Mahä rä ja Yudhiñ ö hira that I wanted to marry Bhé ma but he has refused. And Yudhiñ ö hira Mahä rä ja compelled Bhé ma, " You must marry. Even though she is rä kñ asé, you are kñ atriya you cannot refuse." This was the system, very nice system, brä hmaë a, kñ atriya, vaiç ya, ç ü dra. Don't work now, you should hear. You cannot divert your attention.

So all these kings on the side of the Pä ë ò avas, they were relatives, so they joined. So when they blew their different types of conchshell, then the other side were trembled, " Oh, they have gathered so much strength." Because Duryodhana thought that for, continually for thirteen years Pä ë ò avas were banished, so they could not gather any good amount of soldiers. But when they saw that so many kings from different parts of the world have joined them, so they became frightened. That is described in the next verse, sa ghoñ o dhä rtarä ñ ö rä ë ä à hå dayä ni vyadä rayat. They are just like heart-broken: " What is this? They have gathered so much great, great fighters." Nabhaç ca på thivé à caiva tumulo 'bhyanunä dayan. You read this verse.

Pradyumna:

sa ghoñ o dhä rtarä ñ ö rä ë ä à

hå dayä ni vyadä rayat.

nabhaç ca på thivé à caiva

tumulo 'bhyanunä dayan

[Bg. 1.19]

Translation: " The blowing of these different conchshells became uproarious, and thus, vibrating both in the sky and on the earth, it shattered the hearts of the sons of Dhå tarä ñ ö ra."

Prabhupä da: So enemy, when one enemy fights, the other party, well-equipped, strong, so it breaks the heart of the enemy. That happened. So there is nothing to especially... The breaking of the heart by vibrating different types of conchshell from the side of the Pä ë ò avas, it broke the heart of the dhä rtarä ñ ö rä ë ä m. Dhå tarä ñ ö ra, his sons, one hundred sons. So from Dhå tarä ñ ö ra, Dhä rtarä ñ ö ra, dhä rtarä ñ ö rä ë ä à hå dayä ni vyadä rayat. And it resounded both in the sky or on the surface. So I think that's all. (end)