He saw his own people

Where we are

Sañjaya is still describing the field to the blind king. In the previous reading Arjuna asked Krishna to drive the chariot into the open ground between the two armies so he could see who had come to fight, and Krishna did. Now the chariot has stopped right in front of Bhīṣma and Droṇa, and Krishna speaks a single short line. What Arjuna sees next begins to change everything.

The verses

1. 1.25

   Facing Bhīṣma and Droṇa and all the kings of the earth, Krishna said: “Pārtha, look at these Kurus gathered here.”

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.25

   भीष्मद्रोणप्रमुखतः सर्वेषां च महीक्षिताम् ।
   उवाच पार्थ पश्यैतान्समवेतान्कुरूनिति ॥ २५ ॥

   bhīṣmadroṇapramukhataḥ sarveṣāṃ ca mahīkṣitām
   uvāca pārtha paśyaitān samavetān kurūn iti

   Say it

   bheesh-muh-dro-nuh-pruh-moo-khuh-tuh-huh sur-vay-shaam chuh muh-heek-shi-taam
   oo-vaa-chuh paar-thuh push-yai-taan suh-muh-vay-taan koo-roon i-ti

   Word by word

   bhīṣma-droṇa-pramukhataḥ

   in front of Bhīṣma and Droṇa

   sarveṣām ca mahīkṣitām

   and of all the rulers of the earth

   uvāca

   he (Krishna) said

   pārtha

   O Pārtha (Arjuna, son of Pṛthā)

   paśya etān

   look at these

   samavetān kurūn

   the Kurus gathered together

   iti

   thus (closing the quotation)

2. 1.26

   There Arjuna saw them standing: men like fathers to him, and grandfathers, teachers, uncles, brothers and cousins, sons and grandsons, and friends as well.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.26

   तत्रापश्यत्स्थितान्पार्थः पितॄनथ पितामहान् ।
   आचार्यान्मातुलान्भ्रातॄन्पुत्रान्पौत्रान्सखींस्तथा ॥ २६ ॥

   tatrāpaśyat sthitān pārthaḥ pitṝn atha pitāmahān
   ācāryān mātulān bhrātṝn putrān pautrān sakhīṃs tathā

   Say it

   tuh-traa-push-yut sthi-taan paar-thuh-huh pi-trrin uh-thuh pi-taa-muh-haan
   aa-chaar-yaan maa-too-laan bhraa-trrin poot-raan pau-traan suh-kheems tuh-thaa

   Word by word

   tatra apaśyat

   there he saw

   sthitān

   standing

   pārthaḥ

   Pārtha (Arjuna)

   pitṝn

   fathers, father-figures (elders of his father's generation)

   atha pitāmahān

   and grandfathers

   ācāryān

   teachers

   mātulān

   maternal uncles

   bhrātṝn

   brothers, cousins

   putrān pautrān

   sons and grandsons

   sakhīn tathā

   and friends too

3. 1.27

   He saw fathers-in-law and dear friends too, in both armies. And as the son of Kuntī looked closely at all of them, his own kinsmen standing ready for battle,

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.27

   श्वशुरान्सुहृदश्चैव सेनयोरुभयोरपि ।
   तान्समीक्ष्य स कौन्तेयः सर्वान्बन्धूनवस्थितान् ॥ २७ ॥

   śvaśurān suhṛdaś caiva senayor ubhayor api
   tān samīkṣya sa kaunteyaḥ sarvān bandhūn avasthitān

   Say it

   shvuh-shoo-raan soo-hri-dush-chai-vuh say-nuh-yor oo-bhuh-yor uh-pi
   taan suh-meek-shyuh suh koun-tay-yuh-huh sur-vaan bun-dhoon uh-vuh-sthi-taan

   Word by word

   śvaśurān

   fathers-in-law

   suhṛdaḥ ca eva

   and well-wishers, dear friends

   senayoḥ ubhayoḥ api

   in both armies alike

   tān samīkṣya

   having looked closely at them

   saḥ kaunteyaḥ

   he, the son of Kuntī (Arjuna)

   sarvān bandhūn

   all his kinsmen

   avasthitān

   standing arrayed, drawn up

4. 1.28

   he was overcome by deep pity and, sinking into sorrow, he said: “Krishna, seeing my own people gathered here, eager to fight…” His words continue into the next reading.

   Text note: The BORI critical edition reads the second line in the plural (dṛṣṭvemān svajanān kṛṣṇa yuyutsūn samavasthitān, “seeing these kinsmen standing ready”); the traditional text shown here uses the collective singular svajanam, “my own people”. The meaning is the same.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.28

   कृपया परयाविष्टो विषीदन्निदमब्रवीत् ।
   दृष्ट्वेमं स्वजनं कृष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम् ॥ २८ ॥

   kṛpayā parayāviṣṭo viṣīdann idam abravīt
   dṛṣṭvemaṃ svajanaṃ kṛṣṇa yuyutsuṃ samupasthitam

   Say it

   kri-puh-yaa puh-ruh-yaa-vish-to vi-shee-dun-ni-dum uh-bruh-veet
   drish-tvay-mum svuh-juh-num krish-nuh yoo-yoot-soom suh-moo-puh-sthi-tum

   Word by word

   kṛpayā parayā

   by deep pity, overwhelming compassion

   āviṣṭaḥ

   overcome, taken over

   viṣīdan

   sinking in sorrow, despairing

   idam abravīt

   spoke this

   dṛṣṭvā imam svajanam

   seeing these, my own people

   kṛṣṇa

   O Krishna

   yuyutsum

   eager to fight

   samupasthitam

   gathered here, standing near

Context and commentary

Krishna's only words in this whole first chapter are here: paśya, “look.” He does not tell Arjuna what to feel; he simply points. Notice the name he uses, Pārtha, “son of Pṛthā” (Kuntī's birth name). Some readers hear a gentle edge in it: Pṛthā is the sister of Krishna's father, so the word reminds Arjuna of family at the very moment he faces his family (interpretation). The list in 1.26–27 is deliberately long and personal: not “the enemy,” but grandfathers, teachers, uncles, cousins, sons, grandsons, in-laws and friends, and on both sides. The key word in 1.28 is kṛpā, “pity” or “compassion,” paired with viṣīdan, “sinking into dejection”; this is where the chapter earns its traditional title, Arjuna-viṣāda-yoga, “the yoga of Arjuna's despondency.” Traditions weigh this pity differently. Śaṅkara reads Arjuna's grief and confusion as the very condition the teaching will cure: attachment that blurs the line between self and duty. Rāmānuja and other devotional readers stress that the pity is genuinely noble, yet still a clouding of judgement that Krishna will lovingly correct. Gandhi, reading the battle as an inner one, saw Arjuna's distress as the honest beginning of every moral struggle (interpretation). All agree that the teaching of Chapter 2 grows out of this moment.