कुरुक्षेत्र

Kurukṣetra (कुरुक्षेत्र) is the battlefield in the Mahabharata where the armies of the Kauravas and the Pandavas stand facing each other for battle. There, just before the fighting begins, Lord Krishna and Arjuna have the conversation we know as the Bhagavad Gita. Tradition identifies the place with Kurukshetra in present-day Haryana.

The Gita's first verse (1.1) is King Dhritarashtra's question, and in it Kurukshetra is called a field of dharma. With this name comes the scene in which Arjuna, between the two armies, sees his own people (1.20 to 1.27).

Common misreading: taking Kurukshetra to be only a place of violence and war.

Better sense: in the Gita the place is a stage on which a human being must face duty, relationships and inner confusion. That is why the first verse calls it a field of dharma. This does not justify war. It only tells us where the Gita's conversation takes place.

To read more, see the topic Arjuna on the Field.