1.28 My limbs give way Arjuna speaks
कृपया परयाऽऽविष्टो विषीदन्निदमब्रवीत्
दृष्ट्वेमं स्वजनं कृष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम्
dṛiṣhṭvemaṁ sva-janaṁ kṛiṣhṇa yuyutsuṁ samupasthitam
Seeing my own people standing here, Krishna, wanting to fight — my limbs give way, and my mouth goes dry.
Explanation
My limbs give way, and my mouth goes dry.
Here is the first thing worth being clear about: Arjuna's collapse is not cowardice, and the Gita never treats it as such. He is the finest archer alive and he has been in battle before.
What follows over three verses is a symptom list, and the text records it with the precision of someone who has felt it.
Going further
Word by word
- arjunaḥ uvācha
- Arjun said
- dṛiṣhṭvā
- on seeing
- imam
- these
- sva-janam
- kinsmen
- kṛiṣhṇa
- Krishna
- yuyutsum
- eager to fight
- samupasthitam
- present
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Here is the first thing worth being clear about: Arjuna's collapse is not cowardice, and the Gita never treats it as such. He is the finest archer alive. He is not afraid of dying. He is undone by the specific fact that the people he must destroy are his own — his teachers, his cousins, the men who taught him to hold the bow he is about to use on them.
Everything that follows is addressed to a person in that condition. If you have ever been unable to act because every available action would harm someone you love, this book was written for you and starts exactly where you are.