Who is sanjaya mahabharata

Sanjaya was a charioteer and advisor to Dhritarashtra. He was devoted to the king and was also a disciple of sage Krishna Dwaipayana Veda Vyasa. As the Kurukshetra war was set to begin, Dhritarashtra was keen to follow the action on the battlefield without being physically present. He expressed this desire to Vyasa, who then summoned Sanjaya, and gifted him a divine inward eye.

This eye allowed Sanjaya to witness everything that was to occur in the war from the comfort of his home, which he could report back to his king. In modern terms, this eye would be something along the lines of remote viewing, which is the visual perception technique that allows someone to gather information of a distant target using extrasensory perception ESP. Sanjaya did as he was told and with the utmost honesty and sincerity. Maharishi Vyasa admonishes the King for submitting passively to the immoral desires of his sons, esp.

Duryodhana and Dushasana, and tries, albeit unsuccessfully, to persuade Dhritarashtra to act as a mediator between the Kauravas and Pandavas. Furious at Dhritarashtra, Maharishi Vyasa tells him that his name would forever be tainted for his passivity, which has resulted in a chaotic situation. Showing remorse for his actions and asking for forgiveness, Dhritarashtra then mentions to Vyasa his desire to know the events during the battle and puts forward a request to bestow upon his charioteer Sanjay the divine vision or Divya Drishti.

Maharishi Vyasa tells Dhritarashtra that if he wants divine vision, he himself could accept it. Dhritarashtra, fearing that he might have to witness the deaths of his sons and his army, refuses to accept it and asks him to grant Sanjay the divine vision.

Sanjay, being loyal to his master, accepts it with grace. After being endowed with Divya Drishti , Sanjay, at the request of King Dhritarashtra, starts to explain to him everything about the then world. This is mentioned at the beginning of Bhisma Parva in the Mahabharata. He describes to his master, in great detail, the diversity of life, his theories on the matter, life forms, geography, etc.

During the battle, Sanjay reports everything to Dhritarashtra in great detail. Despite this, he never shies away from narrating the actual events; he, however, comforts Dhritarashtra and Gandhari whenever he reports the loss of their sons. Along with Arjun, Hanuman, and Barbarika, Sanjay is a direct listener of the Gita, recited by Lord Krishna himself, which he then narrates to his master, King Dhritarashtra. He is also one of the two witnesses to the Vishwaroop , the universal form of Lord Krishna.

They, then, decided to head to Gangadwara, currently known as Haridwara, to meditate along the banks of the holy river Ganges. One day, there was a wildfire, one which Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti choose to be consumed by since being engulfed by fire is a death befitting a saint.

That intelligent monarch took with him his sacred fire, Gandhari and his daughter-in-law Kunti, as also Sanjaya of the Suta caste, and all the Yajakas. Possessed of the wealth of penances, thy sire set himself to the practice of severe austerities. He held pebbles of stone in his mouth and had air alone for his subsistence, and abstained altogether from speech.

Engaged in severe penances, he was worshipped by all the ascetics in the woods. In six months the King was reduced only to a skeleton. Gandhari subsisted on water alone, while Kunti took a little every sixth day.

He said so to Vyasa. Then Vyasa called Sanjaya to him and said "Sanjaya shall see all the events of the battle directly.

He shall have such a divine inward eye. Sanjaya has inward eyes. He will tell you everything about the battle. He will be knowing all. Whenever he thinks of it he will see everything that takes place in the day and in the night in open, and in secret.

No weapon will cut him and no weariness will affect him. He is the son of Gavalgana and will come away unhurt from the battle. Before this great war broke out, Sanjaya had gone to Yudhishtira as the Ambassador of Kauravas to negotiate on behalf of them and advises both Yudhishtira and Dhritarashtra against the war Udyoga Parva, Mahabharata.

Despite Sanjaya's devotion to Dhritarashtra, he never hid any of the violence from him and is known to be brutally frank in his recital of the day's battle events and his own opinions, which usually would predict the utter destruction of the Kauravas at the hands of the Pandavas. When Duryodhana was killed, the cry of Ashvatthama grew louder. Sanjaya who heard this cry early in the morning, ran to the battlefield with a broken heart. With the death of Duryodhana the boon of inward eye given to Sanjaya by Vyasa was lost.

Chapter 9, Sauptika Parva, Mahabharata. Sanjaya was the first person apart from Arjuna to listen to the Gita as it was being instructed.