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Chapter 1 · Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra · 46 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps

1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.

Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›

Questions & crisisChapter 1 · Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra

1.27 1.29

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 1.28

Compassion entangled with attachment

Karma · Action

अर्जुन उवाच

दृष्ट्वेमं स्वजनं कृष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम् ।

सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिश‍ुष्यति ॥ २८ ॥

arjuna uvāca

dṛṣṭvemaṁ sva-janaṁ kṛṣṇa

yuyutsuṁ samupasthitam

sīdanti mama gātrāṇi

mukhaṁ ca pariśuṣyati

Translation

Arjuna said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, seeing my friends and relatives present before me in such a fighting spirit, I feel the limbs of my body quivering and my mouth drying up.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Arjuna’s Compassion

1
Arjuna tells Kṛṣṇa that seeing friends and relatives ready to fight makes his limbs tremble and his mouth dry, showing a pure devotee’s softheartedness, not weakness.
2
Arjuna feels compassion for soldiers on both sides, knowing that they may soon die.
3
Genuine devotion to the Lord brings godly qualities; education and culture alone do not.

Key points from the purport

These notes cover verses 1.28–30

Signs of compassion (9 points) S.No Body part Sign

Limbs Quivering

Mouth Drying up

Whole body Trembling

Hair Standing on end

Hands Gandiva bow slipping

Skin Burning

Legs Unable to stand any longer due to impatience

“Forgetting myself and mind reeling” — Due to weakness of the heart

Sees only causes of misfortune

Causes of compassion — different viewpoints

Compassion due to soft heartedness of a pure devotee (1.28) – Ref. SB 5.18.12

By unflinching devotion unto Supreme Lord – all good qualities manifest

Non-devotee in contrast – He may be advanced by education & culture, but lacks godly qualities; hovering on mental plane, he is certain to be attracted by glaring energy

What indicates his soft-heartedness – Arjuna is sympathetic for “both the parties”

False compassion due to material fear, namely loss of life – Indicates material conception of life (1.29 – 1.30)

Impatience – Due to this impatience Arjuna was unable to stay on the battlefield

Weakness of mind – Thus he was forgetting himself

Excessive attachment to material things – This puts a man in such a bewildered condition

Two kinds of trembling / Standing of hairs (1.29)

Great spiritual ecstasy

Great fear under material condition

Trembling mentioned in 1.29 is due to material fear – as evident from the symptoms from 1.29, slipping of Gandiva and burning skin

Cause of fearfulness — Ref. SB 11.2.37 “bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatahsyat…”

Such fearfulness and loss of equilibrium takes place in a person too affected by material conditions

Practical application – Do not be disturbed by material temporary changes because that is the nature of the material world

Importance of Nimittani-viparitani — To see only causes of misfortune

Only pain and frustration

To see only painful reverses

Sees only frustration in expectations

No happiness – Not to be happy even by victory, it would only give lamentation

Causes of such frustrations in life

Misdirected interest – Only interested in one’s own welfare

Ignorance of real self-interest – Real self-interest is Vishnu’s satisfaction

Conditional nature is to forget this real self interest – this is the cause of material pain

Is Arjuna a conditioned soul – Arjuna is showing ignorance of his real self-interest by Krishna’s will ARJUNA’S SECOND ARGUMENT — LOSS OF ENJOYMENT (1.31 — 1.35)

Refutation:

Lord Krishna refutes this argument in Texts 2.31 — 2.32

How it feels

Grief and conflict