Who is who in the Gita
Dhritarashtra
Blind Kuru king; father of Duryodhana and uncle of the Pandavas.
Dhritarashtra is one of the four who actually speak in the Gita. How many verses, and where they turn →
Who is Dhritarashtra in the Bhagavad Gita?
Blind Kuru king; father of Duryodhana and uncle of the Pandavas. He speaks only the opening verse. His phrasing—“my sons” and “the sons of Pandu”—immediately frames divided belonging. That is first of all an observation about the words on the page; what it suggests about attachment and partiality comes after, and is a reading rather than a fact.
Hansi Gita Bhawan Trust · The Gita for Life
Why this person matters in the Gita
He speaks only the opening verse. His phrasing—“my sons” and “the sons of Pandu”—immediately frames divided belonging. That is first of all an observation about the words on the page; what it suggests about attachment and partiality comes after, and is a reading rather than a fact.
Position in the family
Elder Kuru king, husband of Gandhari, father of Duryodhana and his brothers, and uncle of the Pandavas. His physical blindness is part of the epic biography, and that fact is separate from the later use of “blindness” as a metaphor, which is interpretation and not description. Why 1.1 matters. He speaks the Gita’s first verse and then disappears as a speaker. His contrast between “my sons” and “the sons of Pandu” is textually visible and introduces divided belonging before any philosophy is taught.
Reader alert
Do not reduce 1.1 to a psychological diagnosis. First hear a worried king asking Sanjaya about a battlefield called dharmakshetra. Then notice the possessive grammar and the family division it reveals.