Chapter I

Chapter I. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Arjun-Vishad," or "The Book of the Distress of Arjuna."
Translation: Arnold, Sir Edwin

Dhritirashtra:

Ranged thus for battle on the sacred plain On Kurukshetra - say, Sanjaya! say What wrought my people, and the Pandavas?

Sanjaya:

When he beheld the host of Pandavas Raja Duryodhana to Drona drew, And spake these words: "Ah, Guru! see this line, How vast it is of Pandu fighting-men, Embattled by the son of Drupada, Thy scholar in the war! Therein stand ranked Chiefs like Arjuna, like to Bhima chiefs, Benders of bows; Virata, Yuyudhan, Drupada, eminent upon his car, Dhrishtaket, Chekitan, Kasi's stout lord, Purujit, Kuntibhoj, and Saivya, With Yudhamanyu, and Uttamauj Subhadra's child; and Drupadi's; - all famed! All mounted on their shining chariots! On our side, too, - thou best of Brahmans! see Excellent chiefs, commanders of my line, Whose names I joy to count: thyself the first, Then Bhishma, Karna, Kripa fierce in fight, Vikarna, Aswatthaman; next to these Strong Saumadatti, with full many more Valiant and tried, ready this day to die For me their king, each with his weapon grasped, Each skilful in the field. Weakest - meseems Our battle shows where Bhishma holds command, And Bhima, fronting him, something too strong! Have care our captains nigh to Bhishma's ranks Prepare what help they may! Now, blow my shell!"

Then, at the signal of the aged king, With blare to wake the blood, rolling around Like to a lion's roar, the trumpeter Blew the great Conch; and, at the noise of it, Trumpets and drums, cymbals and gongs and horns Burst into sudden clamor; as the blasts Of loosened tempest, such the tumult seemed! Then might be seen, upon their car of gold Yoked with white steeds, blowing their battle-shells, Krishna the God, Arjuna at his side: Krishna, with knotted locks, blew his great conch Carved of the "Giant's bone;" Arjuna blew Indra's loud gift; Bhima the terrible Wolf-bellied Bhima - blew a long reed-conch; And Yudhisthira, Kunti's blameless son, Winded a mighty shell, "Victory's Voice;" And Nakula blew shrill upon his conch Named the "Sweet-sounding," Sahadev on his Called "Gem-bedecked," and Kasi's Prince on his. Sikhandi on his car, Dhrishtadyumn, Virata, Satyaki the Unsubdued, Drupada, with his sons, (O Lord of Earth!) Long-armed Subhadra's children, all blew loud, So that the clangor shook their foemen's hearts, With quaking earth and thundering heav'n. Then 'twas

Beholding Dhritirashtra's battle set, Weapons unsheathing, bows drawn forth, the war Instant to break - Arjun, whose ensign-badge Was Hanuman the monkey, spake this thing To Krishna the Divine, his charioteer: "Drive, Dauntless One! to yonder open ground Betwixt the armies; I would see more nigh These who will fight with us, those we must slay To-day, in war's arbitrament; for, sure, On bloodshed all are bent who throng this plain, Obeying Dhritirashtra's sinful son."

Thus, by Arjuna prayed (O Bharata!) Between the hosts that heavenly Charioteer Drove the brightfcar, reining its milk-white steeds Where Bhishma led, and Drona, and their Lords. "See!" spake he to Arjuna, "where they stand, Thy kindred of the Kurus:" and the Prince Marked on each hand the kinsmen of his house, Grandsires and sires, uncles and brothers and sons, Cousins and sons-in-law and nephews, mixed With friends and honored elders; some this side, Some that side ranged: and, seeing those opposed, Such kith grown enemies - Arjuna's heart Melted with pity, while he uttered this:

Arjuna:

Krishna! as I behold, come here to shed Their common blood, yon concourse of our kin, My members fail, my tongue dries in my mouth, A shudder thrills my body, and my hair Bristles with horror; from my weak hand slips Gandiv, the goodly bow; a fever burns My skin to parching; hardly may I stand; The life within me seems to swim and faint; Nothing do I foresee save woe and wail! It is not good, O Keshav! nought of good Can spring from mutual slaughter! Lo, I hate Triumph and domination, wealth and ease, Thus sadly won! Aho! what victory Can bring delight, Govinda! what rich spoils Could profit; what rule recompense; what span Of life itself seem sweet, bought with such blood? Seeing that these stand here, ready to die, For whose sake life was fair, and pleasure pleased, And power grew precious: - grandsires, sires, and sons. Brothers, and fathers-in-law, and sons-in-law, Elders and friends! Shall I deal death on these Even though they seek to slay us? Not one blow, O Madhusudan! will I strike to gain The rule of all Three Worlds; then, how much less To seize an earthly kingdom! Killing these Must breed but anguish, Krishna! If they be Guilty, we shall grow guilty by their deaths; Their sins will light on us, if we shall slay Those sons of Dhritirashtra, and our kin; What peace could come of that, O Madhava? For if indeed, blinded by lust and wrath, These cannot see, or will not see, the sin Of kingly lines o'erthrown and kinsmen slain, How should not we, who see, shun such a crime We who perceive the guilt and feel the shame Oh, thou Delight of Men, Janardana? By overthrow of houses perisheth Their sweet continuous household piety, And - rites neglected, piety extinct Enters impiety upon that home; Its women grow unwomaned, whence there spring Mad passions, and the mingling-up of castes, Sending a Hell-ward road that family, And whoso wrought its doom by wicked wrath. Nay, and the souls of honored ancestors Fall from their place of peace, being bereft Of funeral-cakes and the wan death-water.So teach our holy hymns. Thus, if we slay Kinsfolk and friends for love of earthly power, Ahovat! what an evil fault it were! Better I deem it, if my kinsmen strike, To face them weaponless, and bare my breast To shaft and spear, than answer blow with blow.


So speaking, in the face of those two hosts, Arjuna sank upon his chariot-seat, And let fall bow and arrows, sick at heart.

Here endeth Chapter I. of the Bhagavad-Gita, entitled "Arjun-Vishad," or "The Book of the Distress of Arjuna."

Hear Chapter 1 Commentary Part 1

Hear Chapter 1 Commentary Part 2

Philosophy behind Bhagavadgita

Bhagavadgita is ‘a symphony in which God is seen in all things’

Some philosophers say that the manifestation of material nature is false, but according to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita or according to the philosophy of the Vaisnavas, this is not so. The manifestation of the world is not accepted as false; it is accepted as real, but temporary. It is likened unto a cloud which moves across the sky, or the coming of the rainy season, which nourishes grains. Such are the workings of nature. This cycle is working eternally. Therefore nature is eternal; it is not false.

‘Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead’

‘That which dwells in the body can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any living being’

‘There are two classes of men who try to realise the self. Some are inclined to understand it by empirical, philosophical speculation, and others by devotional service.’

‘Religion without philosophy is sentiment, or sometimes fanaticism, while philosophy without religion is mental specultation.’

‘ Without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme.’

‘Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence and thus—by spiritual strength—conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust’

‘All living beings are but part of the Supreme, or, in other words, they are mine.’

‘But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor the next.’

‘One who sees analytical study and devotional service to be on the same level, sees things as they are.’

The real purpose of philosophical research is to find the ultimate goal of life.
Since the ultimate goal of life is self-realisation, there is no difference
between the conclusions reached by the two processes. A living entity is not a
part and parcel of the material world but of the supreme spirit whole.

‘A person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all. Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, or opening or closing the eyes, he always knows that only the material sense are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from them.’

‘For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.’

‘Regard honest well-wishers, affectionate benefactors, the neutral, mediators, the envious, friends and enemies, the pious and the sinners all with an equal mind.’

Those who are imitating the yoga system in different so-called schools and societies, although complacent, are certainly wasting their time. They are completely ignorant of the desired goal, which is inaccessible to the common man.

‘All living entities are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from desire and lust.’

‘At the time of death, the consciousness created by the living being carries him to his next body. If the living being has made his consciousness like an animal’s, he is sure to get an animal’s body.’

‘[Arjuna] saw in that universal form unlimited mouths, unlimited eyes, unlimited wonderful visions. The form was decorated with celestial ornaments and bore many divine upraised weapons. He wore celestial garlands and garments, and many divine scents were smeared over His body. All was wondrous, brilliant, unlimited, all-expanding.’

‘If hundreds of thousands of suns were to rise at once in the sky, their radiance might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form.’

‘The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Time I am, the great destroyer of worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you, all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.’

all-devouring time

‘Death could not be checked, even if he did not fight. In fact, they were already dead. Time is destruction, and all manifestations are to be vanquished by the desire of the Supreme Lord. That is the law of nature.’

‘Nonviolence is generally taken to mean not killing or destroying the body, but actually nonviolence means not to put others into distress. People in general are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of life, and they perpetually suffer material pains. So unless one elevates people to spiritual knowledge, one is practicing violence. One should try his best to distribute real knowledge to the people, so that they may become enlightened and leave this material entanglement. That is nonviolence.’
‘False ego means accepting this body as oneself. When one understands that he is not his body and is spirit soul, he comes to his real ego. Ego is there. False ego is condemned, but not real ego. In the Vedic literature it is said: I am Brahman, I am spirit. This “I am,” the sense of self, also exists in the liberated stage of self-realisation. There are some philosophers who say we should give up our ego, but we cannot give up our ego, because ego means identity. We ought, of course, to give up the false identification with the body.’

Material nature consists of three modes—goodness, passion and ignorance.

‘The demoniac say that this world is unreal, with no foundation, no God in control. They say it is produced of sex desire and has no cause other than lust.’

The demonic conclude that the world is phantasmagoria. There is no cause and
effect, no controller, no purpose: everything is unreal. They say that this
cosmic manifestation arises due to chance material actions and reactions. They
have their own theory: that the world has come about in its own way and that
there is no reason to believe that there is a God behind it. For them there is
no difference between spirit and matter, and they do not accept the Supreme
Spirit. Everything is matter only, and the whole cosmos is supposed to be a mass
of ignorance. According to them, everything is void, and whatever exists is due
to our ignorance in perception. Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who
are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial,
horrible works meant to destroy the world.’

‘The demoniac are engaged in activities that will lead the world to destruction. The materialists, who have no concept of God, think that they are advancing. They try to enjoy this material world to the utmost limit and therefore always engage in inventing something for sense gratification. Such materialistic inventions are considered to be advancement of human civilization, but the result is that people grow more and more violent and more and more cruel, cruel to animals and cruel to other human beings. They have no idea how to behave toward one another.’

‘Taking shelter of insatiable lust and absorbed in the conceit of pride and false prestige, the demoniac, thus illusioned, are always sworn to unclean work, attached by the impermanent.’

‘Although such demoniac people are most abominable in the world, by artificial means the world creates a false honour for them. Although they are gliding toward hell, they consider themselves very much advanced.’

‘There are three gates leading to hell—lust, anger, and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul.’

‘At the beginning of Brahma’s day, all living entities become manifest from the unmanifest state, and thereafter, when the night falls, they are merged into the unmanifest again. Again and again, when Brahman’s day arrives, all living entities come into being, and with the arrival of Brahma’s night they are helplessly annihilated.’