1.47 He sits down Sanjaya speaks
एवमुक्त्वाऽर्जुनः संख्ये रथोपस्थ उपाविशत्
विसृज्य सशरं चापं शोकसंविग्नमानसः
evam uktvārjunaḥ saṅkhye rathopastha upāviśhat
visṛijya sa-śharaṁ chāpaṁ śhoka-saṁvigna-mānasaḥ
Having said this, Arjuna sat down on the floor of the chariot in the middle of the battle, let his bow and arrows fall, and his mind was overcome with grief.
Explanation
The chapter ends with a man sitting down.
Not fleeing, not surrendering, not deciding — sitting down, in the middle of a battlefield, and letting the bow and arrows fall.
Seven hundred verses of the highest philosophy in the tradition are about to be spoken to someone in that position. It is worth remembering, whenever the Gita gets abstract, that this is who it is being said to.
Going further
Word by word
- sañjayaḥ uvācha
- Sanjay said
- evam uktvā
- speaking thus
- arjunaḥ
- Arjun
- saṅkhye
- in the battlefield
- ratha upasthe
- on the chariot
- upāviśhat
- sat
- visṛijya
- casting aside
- sa-śharam
- along with arrows
- chāpam
- the bow
- śhoka
- with grief
- saṁvigna
- distressed
- mānasaḥ
- mind
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The chapter ends with a man sitting down.
Not fleeing, not surrendering, not deciding — sitting down, in the middle of a battlefield, with two armies waiting. The bow he has carried through the whole epic is on the floor. Nothing has been resolved and no one has been answered.
This is where the Gita begins: not with a question that has an answer, but with someone who cannot get up. Krishna does not speak for another eleven verses. The silence is part of the teaching.