Chapter I · Śloka 25
Sañjaya uvāca
भीष्मद्रोणप्रमुखतः सर्वेषां च महीक्षिताम् |
उवाच पार्थ पश्यैतान् समवेतान् कुरूनिति ||
उवाच पार्थ पश्यैतान् समवेतान् कुरूनिति ||
bhīṣma-droṇa-pramukhataḥ sarveṣāṃ ca mahī-kṣitām |
uvāca pārtha paśyaitān samavetān kurūn iti ||
uvāca pārtha paśyaitān samavetān kurūn iti ||
In the presence of Bhishma, Drona, and all the other kings, the Lord said: O Partha, behold all the Kurus assembled here.
Krishna parks the chariot at the very center of authority — before Bhishma the patriarch and Drona the teacher — so that Arjuna sees not anonymous soldiers but faces he has loved. The instruction 'behold' is deliberate: seeing fully is the first step of the Gita's teaching.