The bow is set down

Where we are

Sañjaya is still telling the blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra what is happening on the field. In the previous reading Arjuna followed his fear link by link, from a destroyed family to lost traditions, forgotten ancestors and ruin. Now his argument reaches its end: he names the war a great wrong born of greed, says he would rather die unarmed than fight, and then, in Sañjaya's words, lays down his bow. If you are new: Krishna has still not said a word; Chapter 1 closes in silence, and his answer begins in Chapter 2.

The verses

1. 1.45

   “Alas, what a great wrong we have made up our minds to commit! For the sake of a kingdom and its comforts, we are standing here ready to kill our own people.” Arjuna now says the quiet part aloud: he suspects greed is hiding inside the cause.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.45

   अहो बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम् ।
   यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यताः ॥ ४५ ॥

   aho bata mahat pāpaṃ kartuṃ vyavasitā vayam
   yad rājyasukhalobhena hantuṃ svajanam udyatāḥ

   Say it

   uh-ho buh-tuh muh-hut paa-pum kar-toom vyuh-vuh-si-taa vuh-yum
   yud raaj-yuh-soo-khuh-lo-bhay-nuh hun-toom svuh-juh-num ood-yuh-taah

   Word by word

   aho bata

   alas, what a pity

   mahat pāpam

   a great wrong

   kartum vyavasitāḥ vayam

   we have resolved to commit

   yat

   in that

   rājya-sukha-lobhena

   out of greed for the pleasures of a kingdom

   hantum

   to kill

   svajanam

   our own people

   udyatāḥ

   we stand ready

2. 1.46

   “If the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, weapons in hand, were to cut me down in battle while I stood unarmed and did not fight back, that would be better for me.” He would rather be the victim than the one who acts.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.46

   यदि मामप्रतीकारमशस्त्रं शस्त्रपाणयः ।
   धार्तराष्ट्रा रणे हन्युस्तन्मे क्षेमतरं भवेत् ॥ ४६ ॥

   yadi mām apratīkāram aśastraṃ śastrapāṇayaḥ
   dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe hanyus tan me kṣemataraṃ bhavet

   Say it

   yuh-di maam uh-pruh-tee-kaa-rum uh-shus-trum shus-truh-paa-nuh-yuh
   dhaar-tuh-raash-traa ruh-nay hun-yoos tun may kshay-muh-tuh-rum bhuh-vayt

   Word by word

   yadi

   if

   mām

   me

   apratīkāram

   offering no resistance

   aśastram

   unarmed

   śastra-pāṇayaḥ

   with weapons in hand

   dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ

   the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra

   raṇe

   in battle

   hanyuḥ

   were to kill

   tat me

   that, for me

   kṣemataram bhavet

   would be the better outcome

3. 1.47

   sañjaya uvāca

   Sañjaya says: having spoken like this in the middle of the battlefield, Arjuna laid aside his bow and arrows and sank down onto the seat of his chariot, his mind overwhelmed by grief.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 1.47

   एवमुक्त्वार्जुनः सङ्ख्ये रथोपस्थ उपाविशत् ।
   विसृज्य सशरं चापं शोकसंविग्नमानसः ॥ ४७ ॥

   evam uktvārjunaḥ saṃkhye rathopastha upāviśat
   visṛjya saśaraṃ cāpaṃ śokasaṃvignamānasaḥ

   Say it

   ay-vum ook-tvaar-joo-nuh sung-khyay ruh-tho-pus-thuh oo-paa-vi-shut
   vi-srij-yuh suh-shuh-rum chaa-pum sho-kuh-sum-vig-nuh-maa-nuh-suh

   Word by word

   evam uktvā

   having spoken thus

   arjunaḥ

   Arjuna

   saṃkhye

   on the field of battle

   ratha-upasthe

   on the seat of the chariot

   upāviśat

   sat down

   visṛjya

   laying aside

   sa-śaram cāpam

   his bow along with its arrows

   śoka-saṃvigna-mānasaḥ

   his mind shaken by grief

Context and commentary

These three verses close Chapter 1, and the voice changes in the last one: verses 1.45 and 1.46 are Arjuna, while 1.47 is Sañjaya reporting to the king what Arjuna did next. Aho bata is a cry of dismay, roughly “alas, how sad”. In 1.45 Arjuna uses “we”, counting himself among the guilty, and names rājya-sukha-lobha, greed for the pleasures of ruling, as the hidden motive. In 1.46 he pictures himself apratīkāra, “not answering back”, and aśastra, “weaponless”, which for a warrior of his time was a startling thing to wish for. Rathopastha is the seat or floor of the chariot: he does not fall out of it, he sinks down into it. Visṛjya means laying aside, not breaking; the bow is set down, still whole. Interpretation: Śaṅkara treats this collapse as the setting for the whole teaching, a picture of grief and confusion so complete that only real knowledge can answer it. Rāmānuja and devotional readers note that Arjuna's distress is sincere, which is why Krishna takes it seriously. Gandhi and Aurobindo, in different ways, read the scene as every person's moment of crisis, when the mind sees no right way forward. The colophon that ends the chapter calls it Arjuna-viṣāda-yoga, “the yoga of Arjuna's despair”, as if even despair can be the start of a path.