1.47. Sanjaya said Having thus spoken in the midst of the battlefield, Arjuna, casting away his bow and arrow, sat down on the seat of the chariot with his mind overwhelmed with sorrow.

1.26 - 1.47 Arjuna said - Sanjaya said Sanjaya continued: The high-minded Arjuna, extremely kind, deeply friendly, and supremely righteous, having brothers like himself, though repeatedly deceived by the treacherous attempts of your people like burning in the lac-house etc., and therefore fit to be killed by him with the help of the Supreme Person, nevertheless said, 'I will not fight.' He felt weak, overcome as he was by his love and extreme compassion for his relatives. He was also filled with fear, not knowing what was righteous and what unrighteous. His mind was tortured by grief, because of the thought of future separation from his relations. So he threw away his bow and arrow and sat on the chariot as if to fast to death. 1.47. Sanjaya said Having said this much about the battle, and letting his bow fall with arrows, Arjuna sat down on the back of the chariot, with his mind agitated with grief. 1.47 Sanjaya said: "Having spoken thus, in the midst of the armies, Arjuna sank on the seat of the chariot, casting away his bow and arrow; heartbroken with grief."

Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus, Arjuna, his mind overwhelmed with sorrow, cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot in the midst of the battlefield. Commentary: 'Having spoken thus... his mind distressed with sorrow' — Having stated with reasoning and scriptural authority that engaging in war is the root of all calamities, that it will lead to the destruction of his kinsmen here and attainment of hells in the hereafter, Arjuna, his mind exceedingly agitated by grief, firmly resolved not to fight. On that very battlefield where he had arrived with bow in hand and full of enthusiasm, he now placed the Gandiva bow down with his left hand and the arrow with his right hand. He himself sat down in the center of the chariot, right where he had been standing to view both armies, now assuming a posture of sorrow. The primary cause of Arjuna's sorrowful state is this: The Lord Himself had stationed the chariot before Bhishma and Drona and asked Arjuna to behold the Kauravas. Upon seeing them, the latent delusion within Arjuna was awakened. With this delusion awakened, Arjuna says that in this war, our kinsmen will be slain. The death of kinsmen itself is a matter of great loss. Duryodhana and others, due to greed, are not considering this loss. But we must pay attention to the terrible chain of calamities that will ensue from this war and must therefore desist from such sin. We have committed a grave error by standing on this battlefield, driven by greed for kingdom and pleasure, ready to destroy our own dynasty! Therefore, even if the warriors standing before me were to kill me, unarmed and refusing to fight, that would be for my benefit. Thus, due to delusion overwhelming his heart, Arjuna sees benefit in abstaining from war and even in his own death, and ultimately, because of that very delusion, he casts aside his bow and arrows and sits down, immersed in dejection. Such is the power of delusion that the same Arjuna who was readying for war by taking up his bow is now the same Arjuna who, having laid down his bow, is utterly overwhelmed with sorrow! Thus, with the utterance of Om, Tat, Sat—the sacred syllables—the first chapter entitled "Arjuna's Yoga of Dejection" in the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, which is the Upanishad known as the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, composed of the science of Brahman and the scripture of Yoga, is complete.