 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Chapter 1. Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra TEXT 28 arjuna uvaca
SYNONYMS  arjunah--Arjuna;
uvaca--said; drstva--after seeing; imam--all these; sva-janam--kinsmen;
krsna--O
Krsna; yuyutsum--all in fighting spirit; samupasthitam--all
present; sidanti--quivering; mama--my; gatrani--limbs
of the body; mukham--mouth; ca--also; parisusyati--drying
up.
TRANSLATION Arjuna said:
My dear Krsna, seeing my friends and relatives present before me in such
a fighting spirit, I feel the limbs of my body quivering and my mouth drying
up.
PURPORT Any man who
has genuine devotion to the Lord has all the good qualities which are found
in godly persons or in the demigods, whereas the nondevotee, however advanced
he may be in material qualifications by education and culture, lacks in
godly qualities. As such, Arjuna, just after seeing his kinsmen, friends
and relatives on the battlefield, was at once overwhelmed by compassion
for them who had so decided to fight amongst themselves. As far as his
soldiers were concerned, he was sympathetic from the beginning, but he
felt compassion even for the soldiers of the opposite party, foreseeing
their imminent death. And so thinking, the limbs of his body began to quiver,
and his mouth became dry. He was more or less astonished to see their fighting
spirit. Practically the whole community, all blood relatives of Arjuna,
had come to fight with him. This overwhelmed a kind devotee like Arjuna.
Although it is not mentioned here, still one can easily imagine that not
only were Arjuna's bodily limbs quivering and his mouth drying up, but
that he was also crying out of compassion. Such symptoms in Arjuna were
not due to weakness but to his softheartedness, a characteristic of a pure
devotee of the Lord. It is said therefore:
yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana
"One who has
unflinching devotion for the Personality of Godhead has all the good qualities
of the demigods. But one who is not a devotee of the Lord has only material
qualifications that are of little value. This is because he is hovering
on the mental plane and is certain to be attracted by the glaring material
energy." (Bhag. 5.18.12)
|
