arjunaḥ uvācha

हृषीकेशं तदा वाक्यमिदमाह महीपते

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

Bring the chariot to a stand between the two armies, unfailing one.

कृपया परयाऽऽविष्टो विषीदन्निदमब्रवीत्

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

Seeing my own people standing here, Krishna, wanting to fight — my limbs give way, and my mouth goes dry.

कथं भीष्ममहं संख्ये द्रोणं च मधुसूदन

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

How am I to fight Bhishma and Drona with arrows, Krishna? They deserve my reverence.

स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

What is one of steady wisdom like, Krishna, one established in stillness? How does such a person speak?

ज्यायसी चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

If understanding is better than action, Krishna, why do you urge me into this terrible work?

अथ केन प्रयुक्तोऽयं पापं चरति पूरुषः

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

Then what drives a person to do wrong, Krishna, even against their own will, as though compelled by force?

अपरं भवतो जन्म परं जन्म विवस्वतः

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

Your birth was later; Vivasvan's was earlier. How am I to understand that you taught it in the beginning?

संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

You praise the renunciation of action, Krishna, and then you praise yoga. Which of the two is better? Tell me clearly.

योऽयं योगस्त्वया प्रोक्तः साम्येन मधुसूदन

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

This yoga of evenness you have described, Krishna — I do not see how it can hold, because the mind is unsteady.

अयतिः श्रद्धयोपेतो योगाच्चलितमानसः

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

One who has faith but is slack, whose mind wanders from yoga, and who fails to reach its perfection — where does such a person go, Krishna?

किं तद्ब्रह्म किमध्यात्मं किं कर्म पुरुषोत्तम

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

What is that Brahman? What is the self? What is action? What is called the ground of matter, and what the ground of the gods?

परं ब्रह्म परं धाम पवित्रं परमं भवान्

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

You are the supreme Brahman, the supreme abode, the highest purifier; the eternal divine person, the first of gods, unborn, all-pervading.

मदनुग्रहाय परमं गुह्यमध्यात्मसंज्ञितम्

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

By your grace I have heard your highest word, the deepest secret, about the self — and by it my confusion is gone.

पश्यामि देवांस्तव देव देहे सर्वांस्तथा भूतविशेषसङ्घान्

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

I see all the gods in your body, and all the kinds of beings; Brahma on his lotus seat, and all the seers and divine serpents.

स्थाने हृषीकेश तव प्रकीर्त्या जगत् प्रहृष्यत्यनुरज्यते च

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

It is fitting, Krishna, that the world rejoices and delights in praising you. The demons flee in every direction, and all the perfected bow.

दृष्ट्वेदं मानुषं रूपं तवसौम्यं जनार्दन

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

Seeing this human form of yours again, so gentle, I am gathered back into myself, and I have returned to my own nature.

एवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

Those devoted who worship you, steadfast and constant, and those who worship the imperishable and unmanifest — which of them know better?

प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञमेव च

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

Nature and the person, the field and the knower of the field, knowledge and what is to be known — these I wish to understand, Krishna.

कैर्लिंगैस्त्रीन्गुणानेतानतीतो भवति प्रभो

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun inquired

By what signs is one known who has gone beyond these three strands, lord? How does such a person behave, and how do they pass beyond them?

ये शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य यजन्ते श्रद्धयाऽन्विताः

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

Those who worship with faith but set aside what the scriptures direct — where do they stand, Krishna? In clarity, restlessness or inertia?

संन्यासस्य महाबाहो तत्त्वमिच्छामि वेदितुम्

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

I wish to understand the truth of renunciation, mighty-armed one, and of letting go — and how they differ.

नष्टो मोहः स्मृतिर्लब्धा त्वत्प्रसादान्मयाच्युत

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said

My confusion is gone and I have regained my memory, by your grace, unfailing one. I stand firm; my doubts are gone. I will do as you say.