The Bhagavad Gita is set on a battlefield — not in the quiet solitude of the Himalayas, nor in the seclusion of a forest. This is significant. The teaching begins in the very midst of life, where duty, emotion, attachment, fear, and confusion meet.
Arjuna stands face-to-face with a painful conflict: the pull of family affection on one side, and the call of duty on the other. As a warrior, it is necessary for him to fight the war. Yet before him stand his own family members, teachers, elders, and loved ones. His reverence and affection for them rise with equal force and seem to stand against what duty demands of him. Caught between duty and affection, Arjuna stands confused between the two armies on the battlefield.
The battle has been declared because Duryodhana has usurped the kingdom. The Pandavas had done everything possible to avoid war and had asked Krishna to act as a mediator. But Duryodhana would neither return the kingdom nor share it with them. He would not give a district, a county, a village with five houses, or even a house with five rooms. He would not give even a square inch of land. His stand was firm: “Let them either go back to the forest or meet me on the battlefield.” There was no way left to avoid war.
When Arjuna looked across the battlefield, he saw before him people whom he deeply respected — Drona, his own teacher; Bhishma, his grandfather; and many relatives — all of whom he would have to fight. He wondered, “What is the use of fighting these people? Without killing them, I cannot regain the kingdom. And what is the value of a kingdom gained by destroying the very people in whose company I would wish to enjoy it?”
Arjuna saw that in such a war, no one is truly victorious. He saw only a dark and painful future before him. Overcome by grief, conflict, and helplessness, he lost all interest in the fight and laid down his bow and arrows.
In this moment, while caught between the call of duty and the force of his emotions, Arjuna begins to recognise something deeper than his immediate crisis. He begins to see the fundamental problem of the human being — sorrow, confusion, helplessness, and the inability to see clearly when the mind is overpowered. That problem takes hold of his mind, and he seeks a true solution.
Turning to Lord Krishna, Arjuna no longer speaks merely as a friend or devotee. He presents himself as a śiṣya, a disciple. Until then, Arjuna had always been a devotee of Krishna, but not a śiṣya. On the battlefield, in the midst of crisis, he becomes a śiṣya. Lord Krishna accepts him as a disciple and unfolds the teaching of the Gita in the chapters that follow.