Sanjay was a trusted courtier at Dhritarashtra's court. He was a weaver by caste and was a loyal, polite and religious person by nature. He was truthful and straightforward. He used to give advice to the king. He used to protest the atrocities of Duryodhana commited against the Pandavas. After losing the game of dice for the second time when the Pandavas had to go to the forests as per the conditions of the game, Sanjay severely criticized Duryodhana's unjust behaviour and overtly cautioned Dhritarashtra: "O King, the total destruction of the Kuru Vansha is imminent now. But the innocent subjects will die for no reason. Despite being stopped by Vidur, Bheeshma Pitamaha and Guru Dronacharya etc. your sons humiliated Draupadi. Thus, they have themselves invited the wrath of the Pandavas. Only Duryodhana could have committed such an act".

Only a courtier of Sanjay's calibre could have the courage to speak against a prince. Even Dhritarashtra held his words in high esteem. Sanjay was a great politician as well. He did his best to avert the war and went to Upapalavya for talks in an effort to prevent the war. Thus, praising the Pandavas heartily, he suggested them to shun the war. Yudhishthir lovingly supported his suggestion but stipulated that Indraprastha be returned to them. Lord Krishna also supported this condition. With this message of the Pandavas, Sanjay returned to Hastinapur. There he reprimanded Dhritarashtra in isolation and delivering the message of the Pandavas, he also cautioned him of their preparedness for the war. He also described Shri Krishna and Arjuna as invincible and as a single soul in two bodies, they were inseparable. Thus, he tried to incite fear in Dhritarashtra by all the means but Duryodhana rejected their peace proposal scornfully. As a result, the war became imminent. Sanjay had great admiration for Arjuna and Shri Krishna. He had free conduct with both of them. He even had entry to places where the entry of even Nakula and Sahadeva was forbidden. Besides having immense love for the Lord, he also had knowledge of His divine appearance also. Once, in the presence of Vidur, Vyasa and Gandhari, he once related to Dhritarashtra, the glory of Shri Krishna and that He was the Lord of the whole world. At that Dhritarashtra asked him how he knew that Shri Krishna was the Lord and why did He not appear in His real form. Sanjay replied that it was possible to see the true form of the Lord only through the eye of knowledge without which nobody could know His appearance. Sanjay also said: "I never take refuge in lies and through Dhyanyoga, my inner self has been purified. Hence, I have learnt about the divine form of Shri Krishna". At that, praising Sanjay, Vyasaji said that he had recognized the actual form of Shri Krishna. "Hence if you listen to him carefully, he will free you from the fears of birth and death". Thereafter, Dhritarashtra asked Sanjay the way in which he could learn the path of Dharma through Shri Krishna's teachings and find devotion for Him. Sanjay replied: "Without curbing the senses, nobody could find Shri Krishna and senses could be curbed by deserting comforts only. Desertion of misdeeds, violence and luxuries is the means to gain knowledge". These instances show the amount of knowledge that Sanjay possessed.

When the Kauravas and the Pandavas finally came face to face in the battle, the sage Vyasa blessed Sanjay with the divine sight and said to Dhritarashtra: "O king, Sanjay will tell you the events of the war. No event in the battlefield will remain obscure from his sight. With his divine sight, Sanjay will instantly know the events no matter where they occur in the day or at night or even in one's mind. No amount of labour will tire him and he will come out of the battle unhurt".

Blessed by Vyasaji, Sanjay received the divine sight. By the virtue of it, Sanjay could 'see' all the events that took place during the war right at the time of their happenings and related them to Dhritarashtra as and when they happened. He also knew from his far- off position as to who was fighting with whom and what type of clothes one wore in such a big battlefield as Kurukshetra. The divine knowledge of the Bhagwad Geeta as preached by Shri Krishna to Arjuna was also heard and seen by Sanjay. Thereafter, Lord Krishna showed Arjuna His real appearance and subsequently the form with four arms which nobody except Arjuna had seen before. About His form of four arms, the Lord said: "The sight of such a form is difficult even to the virtues of the study of the Vedas, performing oblations, penance, donations etc." Sanjay got a sight of the divine appearance of Shri Krishna from a far off position in Hastinapur. Regarding His divine appearance, the Lord told Arjuna that this sight was possible only due to the unconditional faith in the Lord. Thus, it could be inferred from the sayings of the Lord that Sanjay too had an unconditional faith in the Lord so that he could also get a sight of His divine appearance. After listening to Geeta, the reflection of God's divine appearance kept on instilling Sanjay with transcendental joy.

RAJANA SANSMRITYA SANSMRITYA SANVADAMIMAM ADBHUTAM| KESHAVARJUNA YOH PUNYAM DRISHAMI CHA MUHURMU DHAH||

HEAVENLY ABODE OF SANJAY

After the Mahabharat battle, Sanjay stayed in Yudhishthir's kingdom for many years. Thereafter, he too accompanied Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti to the forests in their exile(Vanaprastha). There too he served his lord by all means. At last, when a huge forest fire engulfed Dhritarashtra, he came, by his order to the Munis who were residing in the safer part of the forests to report to them about the incident. He then went straight to the divine abode in the Himalayas.

TEACHINGS

From the life sketch of Sanjay, we must learn the lesson that a human being, regardless of his birth, caste or creed can do greater than the greatest tasks if he has benevolent faith in God.