Sañjaya
By Swami Harshananda
Sañjaya was the Son of Govalgaṇa. Govalgaṇa was a minister and charioteer of the blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Sañjaya is a well-known character in the great epic, the Mahābhārata. He used to stay most of the time with Dhṛtarāṣṭa. He had advised the blind king several times not to ill-treat or alienate the Pāṇḍavas but nobody headed to his advice.
Before the Kurukṣetra war, he had been sent to the Pāṇḍavas as a messenger of peace which was an entirely one-sided affair. But as per Kṛṣṇa’s advice, the Pāṇḍavas rejected it. He used to describe the whole war to the blind king with a running commentary since he had been specially endowed with a divine sight by the great sage Vyāsa. He lost it after the war was over.
Though he also fought in the war from the Kaurava's side, he did not die since his life was saved by the sage. After Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Gāndhārī perished in the forest fire, he retired to the Himalayas.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore