Sanskrit
एवमुक्त्वाऽर्जुनः सङ्ख्ये रथोपस्थ उपाविशत् । विसृज्य सशरं चापं शोकसंविग्नमानसः ॥
evam uktvārjunaḥ saṅkhye rathopastha upāviśat visṛjya saśaraṃ cāpaṃ śokasaṃvignamānasaḥ
Translation
Sanjaya said: Having thus spoken on the battle-field, Arjuna sank down on the seat of the chariot, casting away his bow and arrow, his mind overborne by grief.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Chapter 1 closes on an image, not an argument: Arjuna, having said everything he has to say, drops his bow and sinks down in his own chariot. The Sanskrit colophon that follows this verse names the whole chapter “Arjuna-viṣāda-yoga” — the Yoga of Arjuna’s Despondency — and this collapse is exactly what Krishna’s teaching, opening in the very next verse of Chapter 2, responds to directly.
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Word by word
- evam uktvārjunaḥएवं उक्त्वार्जुनः
- having spoken thus, Arjuna
- saṅkhyeसङ्ख्ये
- on the battlefield
- rathopasthaरथोपस्थ
- on the seat of the chariot
- upāviśatउपाविशत्
- sank down
- visṛjyaविसृज्य
- casting away
- sa-śaraṃ cāpaṃस-शरं चापं
- his bow along with its arrow
- śoka-saṃvigna-mānasaḥशोक-संविग्न-मानसः
- his mind agitated by grief
Commentary
Site Commentary
Sanjaya’s voice reclaims the frame here, exactly as it did just before Arjuna began speaking in verse 28 — everything from verse 28 through 46 has been quoted speech nested inside Sanjaya’s report to the blind king Dhritarâshtra. This verse is where that quotation closes; what reads as an intimate breakdown on a battlefield has, this whole chapter, actually been a secondhand account relayed by a narrator to someone who can’t see any of it.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Site Commentary — Second Reading
The chapter Krishna is about to answer is titled a yoga — a discipline, a union — despite consisting entirely of a warrior falling apart, which only makes sense if the collapse itself counts as necessary groundwork rather than a detour from the real teaching. Nothing in Chapter 2 asks Arjuna to first compose himself and then come back ready to learn; the teaching begins from exactly the wreckage this verse leaves him in. A tradition that only had room for arguments addressed to someone already calm would have nothing to say to the moment that actually needed it.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When you're processing something painful, notice whether you're experiencing it directly or already narrating it to yourself as a story about what happened — both are valid, but knowing which mode you're in helps you tell whether you're still in the moment or already trying to make sense of it.
Professional
- When relaying a difficult situation to leadership who wasn't present, be conscious that you're giving a report of a report — your framing shapes what they can 'see' as much as the actual events did, so choose it deliberately.
Family & Social
- When you're the one relaying a hard family moment to someone who wasn't there, remember that your account is the only version they'll have — the way you frame it will shape what they understand as much as what actually happened.
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