Krishna speaks: stand up

Where we are

Sañjaya is still describing the battlefield to the blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra. In the previous reading Chapter 1 ended with Arjuna setting down his bow and arrows and sinking onto his chariot seat, his mind shaken by grief, while Krishna said nothing. Now Chapter 2 opens on Arjuna in tears, and for the first time Krishna, his friend and charioteer, speaks: short, sharp words that refuse the collapse. Arjuna answers at once with the real knot: how can he fight Bhīṣma, the family's revered elder, and Droṇa, his own teacher?

The verses

1. 2.1

   saṃjaya uvāca

   Sañjaya tells the king: Arjuna was overcome by pity, his eyes brimming with tears and unable to focus, sinking into despair. Seeing him like that, Madhusūdana, Krishna, spoke to him.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.1

   तं तथा कृपयाविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकुलेक्षणम् ।
   विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदनः ॥ १ ॥

   taṃ tathā kṛpayāviṣṭam aśrupūrṇākulekṣaṇam
   viṣīdantam idaṃ vākyam uvāca madhusūdanaḥ

   Say it

   tum tuh-thaa kri-puh-yaa-vish-tum uh-shroo-poor-naa-koo-lay-kshuh-num
   vi-shee-dun-tum i-dum vaak-yum oo-vaa-chuh muh-dhoo-soo-duh-nuh

   Word by word

   tam tathā

   him, in that state

   kṛpayā āviṣṭam

   overwhelmed / possessed by pity

   aśru-pūrṇa-ākula-īkṣaṇam

   eyes filled with tears and confused

   viṣīdantam

   desponding / sinking

   idam vākyam

   these words

   uvāca

   spoke

   madhusūdanaḥ

   Madhusūdana (Krishna, slayer of the demon Madhu)

2. 2.2

   śrībhagavān uvāca

   Krishna asks: Arjuna, where has this faintness of mind come from, and at such a critical moment? It is not how a noble person behaves. It leads to no higher good and brings only disgrace.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.2

   कुतस्त्वा कश्मलमिदं विषमे समुपस्थितम् ।
   अनार्यजुष्टमस्वर्ग्यमकीर्तिकरमर्जुन ॥ २ ॥

   kutas tvā kaśmalam idaṃ viṣame samupasthitam
   anāryajuṣṭam asvargyam akīrtikaram arjuna

   Say it

   koo-tus tvaa kush-muh-lum i-dum vi-shuh-may suh-moo-puh-sthi-tum
   uh-naar-yuh-joosh-tum uh-svur-gyum uh-keer-ti-kuh-rum ur-joo-nuh

   Word by word

   kutaḥ

   whence / from where

   tvā

   upon you

   kaśmalam idam

   this delusion / faintness / stain

   viṣame

   at this crisis / in this tight spot

   samupasthitam

   has come upon / arrived

   anārya-juṣṭam

   not the way of a noble person

   asvargyam

   not leading to heaven, to any higher good

   akīrti-karam

   bringing disgrace / ill fame

   arjuna

   O Arjuna

3. 2.3

   Krishna goes on: Pārtha, do not give way to this collapse of nerve; it does not fit who you are. Shake off this small weakness of the heart and stand up, you who burn up your foes.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.3

   क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते ।
   क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप ॥ ३ ॥

   klaibyaṃ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitat tvayy upapadyate
   kṣudraṃ hṛdayadaurbalyaṃ tyaktvottiṣṭha paraṃtapa

   Say it

   klai-byum maa smuh guh-muh paar-thuh nai-tut tvuh-yy oo-puh-pud-yuh-tay
   kshoo-drum hri-duh-yuh-dour-buh-lyum tyuk-tvot-tish-thuh puh-run-tuh-puh

   Word by word

   klaibyam

   impotence / unmanliness / collapse of resolve

   mā sma gamaḥ

   do not yield / do not go toward

   pārtha

   O Pārtha (son of Pṛthā / Kuntī)

   na etat tvayi upapadyate

   this does not become you / does not fit you

   kṣudram

   petty / mean

   hṛdaya-daurbalyam

   weakness of heart

   tyaktvā

   having cast off / abandoned

   uttiṣṭha

   stand up

   paraṃtapa

   O scorcher of foes

4. 2.4

   arjuna uvāca

   Arjuna replies: Madhusūdana, how can I aim arrows in battle at Bhīṣma and Droṇa? These are two men I should be honouring, not fighting, O destroyer of enemies.

   अShow the SanskritHide the Sanskrit for verse 2.4

   कथं भीष्ममहं सङ्ख्ये द्रोणं च मधुसूदन ।
   इषुभिः प्रतियोत्स्यामि पूजार्हावरिसूदन ॥ ४ ॥

   kathaṃ bhīṣmam ahaṃ saṃkhye droṇaṃ ca madhusūdana
   iṣubhiḥ pratiyotsyāmi pūjārhāv arisūdana

   Say it

   kuh-thum bheesh-mum uh-hum sung-khyay dro-num chuh muh-dhoo-soo-duh-nuh
   i-shoo-bhih pruh-ti-yo-tsyaa-mi poo-jaar-haav uh-ri-soo-duh-nuh

   Word by word

   katham

   how

   bhīṣmam

   Bhīṣma

   aham

   I

   saṃkhye

   in battle / on the field

   droṇam ca

   and Droṇa

   madhusūdana

   O Madhusūdana

   iṣubhiḥ

   with arrows

   pratiyotsyāmi

   shall I fight against / oppose in battle

   pūjā-arhau

   the two who are worthy of worship

   arisūdana

   O slayer of enemies

Context and commentary

Madhusūdana, “slayer of Madhu”, is an old name for Krishna drawn from a story in which he defeats a demon; commentators like that it appears just as he begins to dispel Arjuna's confusion, and Arjuna throws the same name back at him in 2.4. Kaśmalam in 2.2 is a stain or faintness of mind. Klaibyam in 2.3 is blunter: a loss of nerve, the collapse of a warrior's resolve. Hṛdaya-daurbalyam, “weakness of heart”, names it as something small (kṣudram) rather than noble. Paraṃtapa, “scorcher of foes”, reminds Arjuna of who he has been. Bhīṣma is the grand patriarch of the Kuru family, and Droṇa is the teacher who trained Arjuna in archery; pūjārhau means “the two worthy of worship”, and Arjuna's point is that one honours such people, one does not shoot at them. Interpretation: many readers, Śaṅkara among them, see 2.1–3 as the hinge of the whole Gita, where real teaching becomes possible because Arjuna's grief has reached its limit. Rāmānuja notes Krishna's compassion even in hard words. Some modern readers, Gandhi among them, read the battlefield as the inner conflict every person faces, so the call to “stand up” is about facing duty rather than about war itself. Either way, this is only Krishna's first rebuke; his reasons come later in the chapter.