Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta Shlok Blog -29
Shlok-29
सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिशुष्यति । वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते ॥ 1-29 ||
English Transcription
Seedanti Mama Gaatraani Mukham Cha Parishushyati | Vepathushcha Sahreere Me Romharshashcha Jaayate || 1-29 ||
Hindi Translation
Yudh karne ko lalayit khandaan ko dekh kar shri Krishna se Arjun bole ki apne khandaan ko aise dekh kar ke mujhe bahut dar llag raha hai, muh sookh raha hai, kankapi aa rahi hai or rongate khade ho rahe hain.
English Translation
Arjun saw his own people standing in front of him and he turned to say to Shri Krishna that seeing his own people in the war was making him nervous and he was completely scared, shaking, and freaking out.
Meaning
In the previous Shlok, we saw how Arjun could not fathom the fact that his own people will be fighting his own people and that too to uphold the ideology of his own against the ideologies of his own. Basically, Arjun felt bad and disturbed when he saw the entire army standing in front of him and eager to fight to prove their points.
At the beginning of Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta, we saw that Dhritrashtra used the words Samveta Yuyutsavah, which meant the people were excited about war. He also used the words Mamkaah Pandandavaschaiva which meant my sons and Paandus sons Pandavas are eager to fight. But Arjun used the term Swajanam Yuyutsavam which meant that he did not care if it were his family or someone else’s family, he just knew that at the end of the day, they were all families, so even if they were born to different fathers and from different mothers, they were not different families as their fathers or mothers were related so they were all one family and one family never fights their own.
So, Arjun was perplexed at seeing that wherever he saw, the scene was filled with at least one family member and it made no sense to him why the family needs to put up a fight and make a mockery of their unity and existence for the generations to see and laugh upon.
Arjun did not want his family to suffer even if they were wrong and thus he was just looking at everything with confusion, fear, and even cowardice of quitting. Arjun had the notion that in his close-knit blood family or extended personal family, it didn’t matter who died at the hands of whom but whosoever dies, it will be the person who would be a part of the family in any manner. Thus, he wasn’t happy with this and he just wanted to find an escape from this situation.
The use of the word Drishtwa (meaning see) has been done multiple times, two times by Kauravas and once by Arjun. Kauravas used it to suggest how they wanted the powerful party to view and criticize the strength gathered by the Pandavas and the unity of the Pandavas. But when Arjun used it, he used it to refer to the fact that Arjun picked up his bow and arrow when he saw the Kauravas in front of him but he could not muster the courage to fire it the moment he saw his own people standing behind the Kuaravas and who were sure to get hurt in the process.
Arjun basically used the phenomenon of seeing in the way of seeing what he can see and realizing also what he can see whereas the Kauravas used the word see only as is and they could only see to criticize what they saw and not realize the gravity it will pull off on seeing.
Arjun was referred to as a coward who was shying away from the war because he was sure he wouldn’t be able to manage the entire episode of losses after the war. This was taking a toll on his health and he was losing his status of being calm, composed, and organized. Arjun said he was not feeling good seeing his own people in such a manner because he did not expect to have things turn up like this only.
Arjun could feel his entire body shaking violently and he was unable to manage the fact that he was visibly nervous. Arjun’s bow and arrow, Gaandiv was falling from his hands and this was because he was losing focus from his own self, from the battlefield, and from his own strength.
Arjun was also feeling hot and he could feel his body temperature rising suddenly leading to a fever-like situation, which was a sign of pure anxiety and stress-laden situation. Arjun was feeling low and depressed and he was narrating his situation to Shri Krishna saying that he wasn’t able to hold his bow and arrow which was falling from his hands and he was also not able to feel good due to the rising heat suddenly in his body making him feel sick and tired and weak.
Arjun also described how he was not sure if he wanted to fight because his hands and legs were shaking off weakness and he was blanking out so badly that nothing wa being clear to him He could not see straight, not think straight, and not imagine or plan properly. Arjun was perplexed to the level that he was unable to stand properly and his legs were giving up with every passing second he was tempted to just give up on the war even if they called him a coward because killing his own people was not at all his cup of tea.
Arjun could see that the mere thought and vision of what could happen was making the hair on his arms and legs and body stand up in a goose bumps manner and he was sure that whatever this was, it was because he was not comfortable executing what he was preparing for.
Arjun was having cold feet and he was going through a panic-struck situation where he was having performance pressure. This was to an extent that when he was requesting Shri Krishna to help him, he was stuttering and stammering like anything and he was even unable to speak properly because his body functions were not coordinating properly in fear and in anxiety.
Arjun felt as if he was about to faint and fall from his chariot and he was unhappy with how weak and helpless he was feeling and yet he wasn’t able to recover from the same because he was feeling he was committing a crime by doing what he was doing.
Conclusion
Arjun was a man of character who knew how to handle everything that came upon him and even if he had to take a touch action, he too had a weak side and he was about to give up from fighting but only the drive to get justice for his own people and those who could not dare to raise voice for themselves, thus, he was going on. Arjun was sure he wouldn’t otherwise anyway take such an action that this was important and still, he felt he was doing something unnecessary and thus, he wasn’t feeling great in doing what he was about to do and what he was supposed to be doing.
That’s it in Shlok-29, Chapter-1. We’ll see you tomorrow in Shlok-30, Chapter-1 tomorrow. Till then catch up till Shlok-28, Chapter-1 here.
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