Gita 01.13 Actions that throw caution to the winds are preceded by caution

1.13 Thereafter here the names of various instruments that were played over there is being described so there were conch shells, there were large drums small drums and kettle drums that's panavanaka gomukhaha is horns sahasaiva abhyanyanta sahasa, all of them suddenly abhyanyanta, they were sounded sahabdastumlobhavahat and the sound was tumultuous so here we see the discussion giving way to action and now there is the prelude to the action war in the ancient times in the times of Mahabharata was seen not just as a brutal affair but is also a celebratory affair celebratory means that people in general knew that they would continue to exist after death and thus they would practice devotion they would practice their dharma with devotion and with confidence that even if they couldn't in particular be able to win and protect their and save their lives still they would go to heaven by dying in a war field virtuously so with this understanding when a war was about to begin, the war began in a celebratory mood it was it was like a sporting competition of skills and strength between two opposing armies nowadays say if we have any major sporting event we have the Indian Premier League of Cricket in India or we may have the FIFA World Cup whatever particularly we may have actually we will find that before it begins there is a gala event which is the inauguration so in the inauguration of celebrity performers such as musicians singers actors they come and perform and thus the tone of celebration is set and the whole 15 day, 20 day event that is there it is seen as a joyous event the whole idea is that we need to take steps forward to create the atmosphere for a particular event, especially if the event is important so the blowing of conch shells is creating that atmosphere not just conch shells drums, kettle drums, horns all these is creating the atmosphere by which people will be in that celebratory mood bringing out their full energy and exuberance into the war we may there are two extremes there is one way to have a romanticized conception of war where we think it's all about heroism and bravery and one person standing against the odds sometimes you may see this in movies say Bollywood movies or Hollywood movies where the action hero is shot so many times, is beaten so many times but still dodges the bullets and the blows or dodges at least even if the blows and bullets hit dodges injuries because of the dodges serious injuries and then rises and wins so that is unrealistic considering that actually there is not much to celebrate in the way of functioning in day to day events at the same time in celebrating the day to day events of warfare there will be wounds, there will be death it is brutal so one is to have a romanticized conception of war which is often portrayed by movies centered on heroes who seem to be infallible and immortal the other is to have a very negative conception of war as something brutal and ghastly and which brings out the worst of humanity and which causes indescribable untold pain to millions that is also true that war is all this but at the same time for those who are fighting a war especially those people who are of a Kshatriya disposition they live to experience something exciting, something life threatening we see in today's world also many people live on the edge many people delight in high risk sports jumping from huge mountains jumping from airplanes they want some kind of thrill in their lives and thrill the need for thrill is also a need in people now in some people that need is very strong in some people it is so weak that it is almost not there some people thrive on order and discipline order and structure and for them something which is largely unpredictable hugely dangerous would seem stupid almost suicidal now of course if we see in life threatening sports also there is a huge amount of organization say when a person jumps from a helicopter they take care of everything the parachute and everything for saving the person is meticulously taken care of so even activities that throw caution to the wind sports that throw caution to the wind have caution before the action so similarly we see that the military formation was very carefully done and that's why Duryodhana was alarmed or at least concerned when he saw the Pandava military formation so this was not there was no reckless rushing into war thinking that we are going to win rather there was a determined coordinated and organized planning but then when the actual war began there is a thrill in the event there is joy in moving forward and doing what needed to be done so the important thing is that we need to take steps forward one at a time by which we move steadily and joyously towards doing what we what we find is our need so here the celebratory mood is set for all these martially inclined soldiers warriors, generals who are now about to fight this war Bhishma is blowing his conch, he was the commander and when he blew his conch everyone responded by blowing their particular conches and thus this indicated that the war was about to begin so the conches were blown from the Kaurava side and it is described that the result of the blowing of the conches was that the cumulative sound that filled all of space that rose into the sky so we will discuss the response from the Pandava side in the future verses.