Arjuna said: O Krishna, seeing this assembly of kinsmen arrayed for battle, my limbs are giving way, my mouth is drying up, my body is trembling, and my hair is standing on end. The Gandiva bow is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning. My mind is reeling, and I am unable to even stand steady.
Commentary: 'Seeing this kinsmen, O Krishna, arrayed and eager for battle' – The name 'Krishna' was very dear to Arjuna. This address appears nine times in the Gita. No other address for the Lord Shri Krishna appears this many times. Similarly, the name 'Partha' was very dear to the Lord for Arjuna. Therefore, the Lord and Arjuna used these names for each other in their conversations, and this fact was well-known among people. From this perspective, Sanjaya mentions the names 'Krishna' and 'Partha' at the end of the Gita: 'Where there is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga, and where there is Partha, the wielder of the bow' (18.78).
Earlier, Dhritarashtra had said 'assembled and desirous to fight', and here Arjuna also says 'arrayed and eager for battle'; however, there is a great difference in their perspectives. In Dhritarashtra's view, there is distinction: Duryodhana and others are my sons, and Yudhishthira and others are Pandu's sons; therefore, Dhritarashtra used the terms 'my sons' and 'the sons of Pandu' there. But in Arjuna's view, there is no such distinction; therefore, Arjuna says 'kinsmen' here, which includes people from both sides. The implication is that Dhritarashtra has fear and sorrow from the apprehension of his own sons dying in the war; but Arjuna is sorrowful from the apprehension of kinsmen from both sides dying, thinking that whichever side anyone dies, he is still our kinsman.
Until now, the word 'seeing' has appeared three times: 'seeing the army of the Pandavas' (1.2), 'seeing the sons of Dhritarashtra arrayed' (1.20), and here 'seeing this kinsmen' (1.28). The meaning of these three is that Duryodhana's seeing remained of one kind, i.e., Duryodhana's sentiment was solely of battle; but Arjuna's seeing was of two kinds. First, seeing the sons of Dhritarashtra, Arjuna, filled with valor, took up his bow and stood ready for battle; and now, seeing his kinsmen, he is becoming possessed by cowardice, desisting from battle, and the bow is falling from his hand.
'My limbs are giving way... my mind is reeling' – Arjuna's mind is filled with anxiety and sorrow concerning the future consequences of the war. The effect of that anxiety and sorrow is falling upon Arjuna's entire body. That very effect Arjuna is describing in clear words: each limb of my body – hands, feet, mouth, etc. – is becoming weak! The mouth is drying up, making it difficult even to speak! The whole body is trembling! All the hair on the body is standing on end, meaning the entire body is horripilating! That Gandiva bow, by the twang of whose string enemies become terrified, is today falling from my hand! The skin – the entire body – is burning. My mind is reeling, meaning I cannot even discern what I ought to do! Here, on this battlefield, I am becoming unable to even stand on the chariot! It seems I will faint and fall! In such a disastrous war, even standing here seems like a sin.
Connection: Having described the eight signs of sorrow manifest in his body in the previous verse, Arjuna now states the impropriety of waging war from the perspective of omens portending future consequences.
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