Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1, Verse 47

Chapter 1 – Arjuna Vishada Yoga · Speaker: Sanjaya

Sanskrit verse

सञ्जय उवाच ।
एवमुक्त्वार्जुनः सङ्ख्ये रथोपस्थ उपाविशत् ।
विसृज्य सशरं चापं शोकसंविग्नमानसः ॥

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca .
evamuktvārjunaḥ saṅkhye rathopastha upāviśat .
visṛjya saśaraṃ cāpaṃ śokasaṃvignamānasaḥ ॥

Meaning

Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus on the battlefield, Arjuna, his mind overwhelmed by grief, cast aside his bow and arrows and sank down on the seat of the chariot.

Word meanings

एवम् – thus
उक्त्वा – having spoken
अर्जुनः – Arjuna
सङ्ख्ये – on the battlefield
रथोपस्थे – on the seat of the chariot
उपाविशत् – sat down
विसृज्य – casting aside
सशरम् – along with arrows
चापम् – the bow
शोकसंविग्नमानसः – his mind agitated by grief

Anvaya (word order)

सञ्जयः उवाच — सङ्ख्ये एवम् उक्त्वा शोकसंविग्नमानसः अर्जुनः सशरं चापं विसृज्य रथोपस्थे उपाविशत् ।

Explanation

The first chapter ends with a picture of complete collapse. "Having spoken thus on the battlefield, Arjuna sat down on the seat of his chariot, casting aside his bow together with the arrows, his mind overwhelmed with grief." Sanjaya reports these words to the blind king, and with them the opening act of the Gita closes.

Consider the physical details. Arjuna, the finest archer of his age, whose bow, Gandiva, was famous, throws down that bow. He had arrived standing tall in the chariot, eager to survey the opposing army; he now sits, as if he had no strength to stand. The change in posture is the change in his heart. Where he had been a person of action, he is now a person of paralysis. The word "shoka-samvigna-manasah", whose mind is stirred, agitated by sorrow, shows that the cause is not cowardice as commonly understood but a deep churning of the inner being.

The commentators have different emphases. Shankara notes that grief and delusion about what is right and wrong, born of attachment, are the very roots of samsara, and that Arjuna's state shows the human condition for which the teaching of the Gita is the remedy. Ramanuja stresses that Arjuna's grief arises from taking his relatives as his own, though in truth the Self is distinct from the body, and that is why the Lord must teach him the knowledge of the Self. Madhva reads the verse as the place where Arjuna, helpless, turns to the Lord as his guide.

The importance of this moment lies in what it makes possible. A person who is fully confident has no questions, and a person who has no questions cannot learn. Arjuna's collapse is the very opening in which a teacher can speak. In 2.7, the next stage, Arjuna says, "I am your disciple; instruct me who have taken refuge in you." The Gita is thus not a lecture to the self-sufficient but a response to someone who has reached the end of his own resources.

We, too, have such moments: a loss, a failure, a decision beyond us. It is tempting to see them only as defeats. The first chapter suggests that they may be the doorway into a deeper way of seeing. The title of the chapter, "Arjuna-vishada-yoga", the yoga of Arjuna's despair, gives despair a place on the path. It prepares for 2.1 to 2.10, where Krishna begins his reply with a smile, between the two armies.

Context

This is the final verse of the first chapter. After Arjuna's grief-stricken arguments in verses 28 to 46, Sanjaya describes his condition. The second chapter opens with this same scene: Krishna begins to speak to Arjuna, whose eyes are filled with tears.

Life lesson

There are moments in life when we give up completely and want to abandon everything. Even such moments of despair are not wasted; if they lead us to true guidance, they become the beginning of our inner awakening.

Key terms

Shokasamvignamanasa: one whose mind is deeply shaken by grief
Rathopastha: the seat or rear part of the chariot
Vishada Yoga: the yoga of despair; sorrow that turns one towards God
Shoka-moha: grief and delusion, the roots of worldly bondage