His body says no first

Where we are

Sañjaya is still telling the blind king what is happening on the field. In the previous reading Krishna stopped the chariot between the two armies and said one word, “look,” and Arjuna saw grandfathers, teachers, cousins and friends standing ready to fight. Overcome with pity, he began to speak to Krishna. Now his words pour out, and before he can give a single reason, his body starts to give way.

The verses

1. 1.29

   Arjuna says: “My limbs are giving way and my mouth has gone dry. A trembling runs through my body, and the hair on my skin stands on end.”

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.29

   सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिशुष्यति ।
   वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते ॥ २९ ॥

   sīdanti mama gātrāṇi mukhaṃ ca pariśuṣyati
   vepathuś ca śarīre me romaharṣaś ca jāyate

   Say it

   see-dun-ti muh-muh gaa-traa-ni moo-khum chuh puh-ri-shoosh-yuh-ti
   vay-puh-thoosh-chuh shuh-ree-ray may ro-muh-hur-shush-chuh jaa-yuh-tay

   Word by word

   sīdanti

   give way, grow weak, sink

   mama gātrāṇi

   my limbs

   mukham ca

   and my mouth

   pariśuṣyati

   is drying up completely

   vepathuḥ ca

   and a trembling

   śarīre me

   in my body

   roma-harṣaḥ ca

   and the hair standing on end

   jāyate

   arises, comes over me

2. 1.30

   “My bow Gāṇḍīva is slipping out of my hand, and my skin feels as if it is on fire. I can no longer stand steady, and my mind seems to be spinning.”

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.30

   गाण्डीवं स्रंसते हस्तात्त्वक्चैव परिदह्यते ।
   न च शक्नोम्यवस्थातुं भ्रमतीव च मे मनः ॥ ३० ॥

   gāṇḍīvaṃ sraṃsate hastāt tvak caiva paridahyate
   na ca śaknomy avasthātuṃ bhramatīva ca me manaḥ

   Say it

   gaan-dee-vum srun-suh-tay huh-staat tvuk-chai-vuh puh-ri-duh-hyuh-tay
   nuh chuh shuk-nom-yuh-vuh-staa-toom bhruh-muh-tee-vuh chuh may muh-nuh-huh

   Word by word

   gāṇḍīvam

   Gāṇḍīva, Arjuna's great bow

   sraṃsate hastāt

   is slipping from my hand

   tvak ca eva

   and my skin too

   paridahyate

   is burning all over

   na ca śaknomi

   and I am not able

   avasthātum

   to stand steady, to stay in place

   bhramati iva

   is whirling, as it were

   ca me manaḥ

   and my mind

3. 1.31

   “Keśava, I see signs that point the wrong way. I cannot see any good coming from killing my own people in this battle.”

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.31

   निमित्तानि च पश्यामि विपरीतानि केशव ।
   न च श्रेयोऽनुपश्यामि हत्वा स्वजनमाहवे ॥ ३१ ॥

   nimittāni ca paśyāmi viparītāni keśava
   na ca śreyo 'nupaśyāmi hatvā svajanam āhave

   Say it

   ni-mit-taa-ni chuh push-yaa-mi vi-puh-ree-taa-ni kay-shuh-vuh
   nuh chuh shray-yo noo-push-yaa-mi huh-tvaa svuh-juh-num aa-huh-vay

   Word by word

   nimittāni ca

   and signs, omens

   paśyāmi

   I see

   viparītāni

   contrary, going the wrong way, ominous

   keśava

   O Keśava (Krishna, “the one with beautiful hair”)

   na ca śreyaḥ

   and no good

   anupaśyāmi

   I foresee

   hatvā

   from killing

   svajanam

   my own people

   āhave

   in battle

4. 1.32

   “Krishna, I do not want victory, or a kingdom, or the comforts that come with them. Govinda, what would a kingdom mean to us, or pleasures, or even staying alive?”

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.32

   न काङ्क्षे विजयं कृष्ण न च राज्यं सुखानि च ।
   किं नो राज्येन गोविन्द किं भोगैर्जीवितेन वा ॥ ३२ ॥

   na kāṅkṣe vijayaṃ kṛṣṇa na ca rājyaṃ sukhāni ca
   kiṃ no rājyena govinda kiṃ bhogair jīvitena vā

   Say it

   nuh kaan-kshay vi-juh-yum krish-nuh nuh chuh raa-jyum soo-khaa-ni chuh
   kim no raa-jyay-nuh go-vin-duh kim bho-gair jee-vi-tay-nuh vaa

   Word by word

   na kāṅkṣe

   I do not want

   vijayam

   victory

   kṛṣṇa

   O Krishna

   na ca rājyam

   nor a kingdom

   sukhāni ca

   nor pleasures

   kim naḥ rājyena

   what use is a kingdom to us

   govinda

   O Govinda (Krishna, protector of cows, giver of joy)

   kim bhogaiḥ

   what use are enjoyments

   jīvitena vā

   or even life itself

Context and commentary

These verses are unusually physical. Before Arjuna offers any argument, he lists what is happening to him: weak limbs, a dry mouth, trembling, hair on end, burning skin, a mind that spins. The most striking detail is the bow. Gāṇḍīva was a celestial bow given to Arjuna by the fire god Agni, and in the epic it is almost part of who he is; the greatest archer of his age now cannot keep hold of it. In 1.31 he says he sees nimittāni viparītāni, “signs going the wrong way.” Many readers take this as omens in the old sense (unlucky portents in the sky or among animals); others read it more simply as “everything here points to ruin” (interpretation). Notice also the names he calls Krishna: Keśava, often explained as “the one with fine hair” (some traditions also read it as the slayer of the demon Keśī), and Govinda, linked to cows and to giving joy, gentle, familiar names spoken in distress. Commentators read this moment in different ways. Śaṅkara sees the bodily collapse as a sign of how deeply attachment and confusion have taken hold, the very condition the teaching will address. Rāmānuja and other devotional readers stress that Arjuna's turning away from a kingdom shows real goodness of heart, even though Krishna will still say he is confused about his duty. Modern readers, Gandhi among them, have seen in it the honest moment when a person's whole being refuses something before the mind has found words for why (interpretation).