Acharya Prashant begins his discourse on Chapter 1 of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, focusing on the predicament of one who finds himself hopelessly caged against the Truth. He first analyzes the state of Duryodhana, who, despite having a larger and more experienced army, is in a state of anxiety and internal turmoil. Duryodhana senses that his forces are merely a loose mass without a central unifying principle. This realization makes him almost delirious. He approaches Drona and, in his nervousness, lists the warriors on the Pandava side, concluding that their force is sufficient while his own is insufficient. The speaker explains this as a moment of epiphany for Duryodhana, where he realizes he has missed out on the one central thing needed to win any war: Shri Krishna. Duryodhana had the opportunity to choose Shri Krishna but instead opted for his army, choosing the material over consciousness. This, the speaker notes, is the central mistake everyone makes, choosing Maya over the divine. Duryodhana represents someone who has made repeated bad judgments throughout his life, leading to a practically irredeemable situation. His tragedy is realizing at the very end that he has wasted his life. The speaker advises the audience to learn from this by imagining this painful realization to avoid it in their own lives. In contrast, Arjuna is at the other end of the spectrum of consciousness, nearly saved but still maintaining a personal self rooted in biology and society. He is not yet fully surrendered. Arjuna's first utterance in the Gita is to ask Shri Krishna to take his chariot to the center of the battlefield to see who he is to fight. This is uncharacteristic of a seasoned warrior and reveals his subtle attachments. Upon seeing his kinsmen, he is overcome with sorrow, his body fails, his limbs shiver, and his mouth becomes parched. His arguments against fighting are body-centric; he questions the value of a kingdom and pleasures if they come at the cost of killing his relatives, for whom he desires these things. He also presents socially conditioned arguments about the decay of the family, the end of religious rites, and the rise of unrighteousness (Adharma). The speaker explains that Arjuna is speaking the language of the flesh, where the body and its relations are the highest value. This is a biological impulse, as the body is programmed to protect its kin to propagate its DNA. When one is centered in the flesh, the flesh is the highest value; when centered in consciousness, consciousness is the highest value. Because Arjuna represents the common, body-identified individual, the Bhagavad Gita is precious and relatable to all.