Are You Being Heard?

Effective communication is an art

- Devdutt Pattanaik

Krishna reveals the Gita to Arjuna on the brink of battle at Kuru-Kshetra. Sanjaya, blessed with telepathic sight, overhears this and transmits it to Dhritarashtra, the blind king of Hastinapur, father of the Kauravas, uncle of the Pandavas, who sits far from the battlefield in a comfortable palace. This structure, with two speakers and three receivers, is aimed to draw attention to the complexity of any communication; the wide gap between knowledge given (Gyan) and knowledge taken (Vi-gyan).

Krishna and Sanjaya speak the same words, however, only Krishna is the source of the knowledge, while Sanjaya is merely a transmitter. Krishna knows what he is talking about. Sanjaya does not.