Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.
In Bhagavad Gita verse 1.2 Sanjaya says,
sañjaya uvāca
dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanas tadā
ācāryam upasaṅgamya rājā vacanam abravīt
Sanjaya said: "O King, after looking over the army gathered by the sons of Pandu, King Duryodhana went to his teacher and began to speak the following words."
1. Sanjaya who was serving as secretary of King Dhrtarashtra, was student of Vyasadev. He is known for his non-envious nature. Envy or jealousy is a very abominable quality. Whereas Krishna is very pleased with those who are "anasuya". In fact in Bhagavad Gita verse 9.1 Krishna says, "My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most confidential knowledge and realization, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence." Also in Srimad Bhagavatam it is mentioned in verse 1.1.2 - "dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ" - "Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhägavata Puräna propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart." Here nirmatsara means one who is free from all (matsara) envy. Srila Prabhupada has nicely translated it as 'one who is 100% pure in heart.' So those who are non-envious are very dear to Lord and all knowledge is revealed to them.
2. Once Krishna and Arjuna were having a private conversation and Krishna had asked the doorkeepers not to let anyone inside. Sanjaya had come there to deliver some message. When doorkeepers told him that they would not be able to let him in, he asked them to just go and inform Krishna about his arrival. As soon as Krishna heard Sanjaya's name, he let him in. Sanjaya came in, offered obeisances, delivered the message and left the place. When Arjuna was wondering why Krishna let him in, Krishna said that Sanjaya was nonenvious and that quality pleased Him. When we are envious of others, neither Lord nor the people around us would like to spend time with us. When we are non-envious we become an approchable person for all and Krishna also loves to bestow us with His darshan. By being envious we lose the association of Lord and his devotees.
3. Also by the mercy of his spiritual master Srila Vyasadev, Sanjaya who was staying with Dhrtarashtra in Hastinapur, could visualise what was happening in Kurukshetra. So the main point to understand is that if not for mercy of spiritual master, we cannot see anything materially or spiritually. cakshur unmilitam ena - Guru force opens our eyes which are blinded by darkness of ignorance. So we must always remember the mercy showered upon us by the spirtual master and remain grateful to him.
4. Whereas we find here that Dhrtarashtra - because of not taking shelter of elders or spiritual master - had become blind both spiritually and materially. He not only destroyed his life, but by sowing the seeds of envy in the hearts of his children, right from birth, Kauravas nurtured this envy right from childood and that ended in the fatal Kurukshetra war. Srila Prabhupada nicely mentions in the purport - "Dhrtarashtra was blind from birth. Unfortunately, he was also bereft of spiritual vision." Material blindness will trouble us only in this birth, whereas if we are spiritually blind then we would drown in the ocean of repeated birth and death. Because of his envious nature, Lord did not want Dhrtarashtra or his sons to become the king. In his lecture on Gita verse 1.2-3, Srila Prabhupada says, "So formerly, when there was fight between two kings, it is on the principle that who is giving good protection to the citizens, not for personal profit. Who is able to give good protection, life, security for life and property, he should become king. So these persons, this Dhrtarashtra and his sons, they were jealous. How they could give protection to the citizens? They are themselves jealous..Dhrtarashtra, he is jealous. He cannot give any good government. Krishna knew it. ."
King should treat all "praja" with equal vision. Praja means - "one which takes birth". Since Dhrtarashtra could not even treat his brother's children with equal vision, how could he treat all other praja - all other living beings. So to restablish dharma Krishna wanted Yudhishir Maharaj to become the king.
5. As a devoted student, Sanjaya could understand the mood of Dhrtarashtra. Everyone knew that neither Duryodhana nor Dhrtarashtra are worthy enough to become a king. So just to please his master, Sanjaya is referring to Duryodhana as "raja".
Thank you very much
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva
Kalacakra Krsna das
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