Gita 01.21 – The surprising request to see what is already known

Bhagavad Gita 1.21 यावधितानिरीक्षेहं योधुकामानवस्तितान so with both the armies assembled on the battlefield ready to fight with the conches also having been blown the only conversation between the warriors would normally have been about how best to fight the war whom to attack where to defend how to strategize those were the kind of discussions that would have normally been expected just like if a sports match a cricket match is going on at that time in the middle of the cricket pitch cricket field if the bowler is standing in the position of running in the batsman is standing in the position of the batting pose and everybody is ready for the action to begin at that time when the everybody is ready for that at that time suddenly the batsman calls the non-striker and wants to speak something so now temporarily everyone else may wait but then normally it would be expected that the batsman would want to ask the non-striker something about the immediate strategy okay should I attack or defend or should I do this or should I do that maybe that sort of consultation is expected but some other kind of talk would not normally be expected but Arjuna rather than asking that sort of thing suddenly makes some other request which is quite unexpected so he says that in between the two arms Pratham sthapaya me achyutam O Krishna is being referred to here by the name Achyutam Pratham sthapaya please place my chariot between the two armies by which I can see what can I see I will be able to see I will be able to see those who are here to fight now it's a little unusual request no doubt like the batsman suddenly going in the middle of the pitch and standing over there batsman is expected to be on the side next to the stumps where he will be receiving the ball from the bowler so Arjuna is one of the commanders the foremost warriors in the Pandava army and Arjuna is expected to lead the charge of his side against the opponent suddenly going in the middle of the armies what does it convey so that itself is unexpected now Arjuna is giving a reason I want to go in between O Krishna place our chariot in between so that I can see now actually what is there to see it's not that the Pandavas had kept the Kauravas had kept their alliances hidden sometimes when a cricket match is going on or a cricket series is going on sometimes to retain an element of surprise the team a particular team may not reveal its final playing eleven so naturally the opponent team may be on the day when the match is about to begin the opponent team may be eager to know who are the playing eleven who has been included, who has been dropped do they have more batsmen, more bowlers or whatever so in that case there is a certain amount of uncertainty and then there is curiosity because of that uncertainty to know who is the playing eleven but overall the broad general members of the team are known now there was not even that kind of suspense for Arjuna because the Kaurava forces were well known and the Kauravas had not hidden it was not that there was a playing eleven and some people would be in the reserves of course one person Karuna had chosen to stay out of the war and for because he had a spiteful relationship with Bhishma the current commander but Karuna's absence was also well known so in one sense Arjuna's request I want to see the warriors you know that doesn't make sense because he is not going to see anything new he knew who the warriors were and in fact before the war both the armies their commanders had met to assess the relative strengths their own relative strengths and their opponent's relative strengths so at that time Arjuna had been an active part of that meeting and Yudhishthira had asked Arjuna how long would it take for him to defeat the Kaurava army and Arjuna had given it a suspect so the point was that there was no element of the unknown or the unseen that Arjuna would have wanted to see so I want to see those who have assembled here for fighting so what exactly did Arjuna want to see even if the Kauravas had made some last minute change in strategies the Pandavas also had their spies both the parties had their spies in the opposite camp and they knew what was happening so any major move it would be unlikely to be hidden and moreover actually from the from where he was as one of the heads in his army he could see most of the Kaurava army also certainly he could have a better advantage from the middle but what Arjuna exactly wanted to see remains a mystery because this is not the time for just just idle seeing you know sometimes people go for sightseeing they don't do anything much about the place just go and see so now for Arjuna with the battle about to start there was no time for sightseeing so what exactly was he doing that is the peculiarity of the quest and later on it will be seen that actually he was trying to understand the extent of the warring spirit of the Kauravas but that we will come to but here Arjuna makes an extraordinary request that he knows who are the warriors on the Pandava side on the Kaurava side he himself assess their strengths and he knows them also through the spies he can also behold most of their army and their formations from where he is so why does he want to see that is the peculiar request that he makes and Krishna is referred to here as Achyuta Achyuta means one who is infallible so the lord is infallible in that the lord never lets his devotees down and here because of Arjuna's request apparently he will Krishna will oblige that request Krishna has agreed to act as a charioteer and he will act as a charioteer but when Arjuna's actions lead him into illusion the unfailing lord will unfailingly protect his devotee and bring him out of illusion so lord Achyuta acts as Achyuta in both ways he does his duty as a charioteer when Arjuna wants him to take him in between the two armies and then he also does his duty as a counsellor he is a friend, mentor, guide counsellor of Arjuna and as a counsellor he will counsel Arjuna to come out of the illusion that Arjuna goes into on beholding the two armies assembled for the fight how that happens will be revealed in the eventual narrative of the Bhagavad Gita thank you.