Was Sanjay with Dhritarashtra when the war in Kurukshetra began?

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Was Sanjay with Dhritarashtra when the war in Kurukshetra began or was he at the battlefield, observing everything first-hand?

There has been a general understanding that Sanjaya was there with Dhritarashtra right from the beginning of the war in Kurukshetra and was reporting to him all the details about the war. But is that how it happened?

What do we know about the dialogue between Sanjay and Dhritarashtra?

Let us look at the information given in the Vyas Mahabharata with regard to the gift of divine vision to Sanjaya by Vyasadeva. There are many verses that shed light on the subject.

Verses 6,7 and 8 in the Ved Vyas Mahabharata, Bhishmaparva are as follows

When Vyasadeva offered a divine vision to Dhritarashtra so that he can see the developments on the battlefield directly[1], Dhritarashtra expressed his unwillingness to accept the boon.[2] Instead, he expressed, that he would love to hear about all that was happening on the battlefield.

Vyasadeva then offered the boon to Sanjaya.[3]  He explained that with the boon, Sanjaya would not miss anything that happened on the battlefield, whether during the day or night. He would be able to hear the unspoken words and read the minds of others. No weapon would touch Sanjaya. He would not tire of moving in and through the battlefield continuously, and he would come out of the battlefield alive. No one would be able to kill him.[4]

Chapter fourteen of Bhishma Parva, Ved Vyas Mahabharata

The chapter begins with the words of Vaishampayana where he says that Sanjaya came back from the battlefield after Bhishma was put into the bed of arrows and reported about it to Dhritarashtra.[5]  

The first verse of Gita

Also, we read in the first verse of the Gita Dhritarashtra asked Sanjaya ‘what did my children and the children of Pandu do?’.[6] Please note Dhritarashtra asked this using a past tense form, kim akurvata.

All the above make it crystal clear that Sanjaya was not with Dhritarashtra right from the beginning of the battle. In fact, he was at the battle field, observing everything first hand. He came back from the battle field to meet Dhritarashtra after Bhishma’s decline.

The Gift of the Divine Vision

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Here is a beautiful quote from Sri Aurobindo on Sanjaya’s gift of divine vision:

“There is a power of subtle vision beyond the gross physical sense organ, in a subtle organ through which we can bring within our ken objects and knowledge inaccessible to the gross organs of sense can have vision of subtle things, can listen to subtle sounds, smell imperceptible smells, touch subtle physical objects, and have taste of subtle foods. The utmost development of subtle sight is what is called divine vision, through its power objects that are at a distance, secret objects or those belonging to another world come within the scope of our knowledge. We see no reason to disbelieve that the great sage Vyasa possessing supreme Yogic powers was capable of imparting this divine vision to Sanjaya. If we are not incredulous about the wonderful power of Western hypnosis, why should we be incredulous about the power of the great Vyasa with his incomparable knowledge? In every, page of history and in every activity of human life there is available ample evidence that a powerful man can impart his power to another. Heroic men of action like Napoleon and Ito prepared collaborators in their work by imparting their own power to fit recipients. Even a very ordinary Yogin having obtained some special power can impart his power to another for a little while or for a special purpose, what to speak of the great Vyasa who was the world's most accomplished genius and a man of extraordinary Yogic realisation.” (Sri Aurobindo, Bengali writings)