01Envoy to Upaplavya
Sanjaya, son of the suta Gavalgana, was Dhritarashtra’s charioteer and the minister he trusted most. When the thirteen years were over, the king sent him to the Pandavas at Upaplavya with a message full of fine words about peace and nothing about giving back the kingdom. Yudhishthira and Krishna answered him plainly: Indraprastha, or war. Sanjaya came back late at night, and rebuked his master to his face for choosing his sons over dharma. The next day he gave his report before the assembled Kurus.
02The divine eye
Just before the war Vyasa came to Dhritarashtra and offered him sight. When the king refused, Vyasa gave the gift to Sanjaya instead: he would see everything in the war, openly done or secret, by night or by day, even what men only thought; no weapon would cut him and he would come out of it alive. So the Bhishma, Drona, Karna and Shalya Parvas are Sanjaya speaking. He heard the Gita between the two armies and repeated it to the blind king, and ends it with his own words: where Krishna is, lord of yoga, and Partha with his bow, there are fortune, victory and lasting good.
03Spared on the last day
On the eighteenth day Sanjaya was on the field when Satyaki captured him. Dhrishtadyumna laughed and said there was no use keeping him alive, and Satyaki raised his sword; then Vyasa appeared and told him to let Sanjaya go. Walking back, Sanjaya found Duryodhana alone by the lake with his mace, and carried his last message to his parents. The night Duryodhana died, Sanjaya’s divine sight left him. He went to the forest with Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Kunti, escaped the forest fire that took them, and went on to the Himalaya.
Famous verses
यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः । तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ॥
Where Krishna, lord of yoga, is, and where Partha the archer is, there are fortune, victory, prosperity and steady right conduct. This is my conviction.Bhagavad Gita 18.78 = Mahabharata 6.40.78 (BORI CE)