Arjuna sees the armies and his heart shatters (Bg 1.24 to 1.27)
Arjuna wanted to see the opposing side before to see who was there and make an estimate of their military strength, and the Lord satisfied his desire. What he saw, however, made his heart sank.
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Verse 24: sañjaya uvāca
evam ukto hṛṣīkeśo, guḍākeśena bhārata
senayor ubhayor madhye, sthāpayitvā rathottamam
Sañjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, having thus been addressed by Arjuna, Lord Kṛṣṇa drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties.
Verse 25: bhīṣma-droṇa-pramukhataḥ, sarveṣām ca mahī-kṣitām
uvāca pārtha paśyaitān, samavetān kurūn iti
In the presence of Bhīṣma, Droṇa and all the other chieftains of the world, the Lord said, “Just behold, Pārtha, all the Kurus assembled here.”
Verse 26: tatrāpaśyat sthitān pārthaḥ, pitṝn atha pitāmahān
ācāryān mātulān bhrātṝn, putrān pautrān sakhīms tathā
śvaśurān suhṛdaś caiva, senayor ubhayor api
There Arjuna could see, within the midst of the armies of both parties, his fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, and also his fathers-in-law and well-wishers.
Verse 27: tān samīkṣya sa kaunteyaḥ, sarvān bandhūn avasthitān
kṛpayā parayāviṣṭo, viṣīdann idam abravīt
When the son of Kuntī, Arjuna, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion and spoke thus.
Being the charioteer of Arjuna, the Lord didn't hesitate in fulfilling His order. He is called Acyuta (infallible) in verse 21 because He never fails in His affection for His devotees. Once a devotee fully surrenders to Krsna, the Lord is always ready to protect Him in all circumstances, and He does this personally, and not just through his different energies. Arjuna wanted to see the opposing side before the battle started to see who was there and make an estimate of their military strength, and the Lord satisfied his desire.
In verse 24, Krsna is called Hṛṣīkeśa, the master of the senses. Everything is created out of Krsna's energy, including our mind, intelligence, body, and senses and thus all of these belong to Him. He allows us to use the body and senses, but He is the actual proprietor. It's just like driving a rented car. To use the body and senses for our own purposes is called material life, and agreeing to use them in the service of Krsna means the beginning of the path back home, back to Godhead. Krsna is present in our hearts as Paramātmā and He helps us in both ways. If we desire to satisfy our senses, He gives us sanction to do so and also gives us the karmic results in due time. If however, we desire to find Him, He gives us all facilities, by helping us from the outside in the form of transcendental books, devotees, and the spiritual master, and from the inside, inspiring us to seek Him.
Arjuna in turn is called Guḍākeśa, because he conquered both sleep and ignorance. On the material side, he was a trained and disciplined man, a powerful kṣatriya who in battle could triumph against impossible odds. Once, just after the end of the period of his exile, Arjuna faced the entire Kaurava army at the gates of the castle of the Matsya Kingdom, assisted only by Uttar, the Matsya prince, who drove his chariot. Surprised by his skill and determination, the Kauravas retreated. On the spiritual side, Arjuna was a pure devotee, a personal associate of Krsna, a soul fully aware of His constitutional position.
As Prabhupada mentions in his purport, a devotee of Krsna can conquer both sleep and ignorance by constantly thinking of Krsna. This is the essence of the process of Krsna Consciousness. In the first chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna is briefly put into illusion due to the will of the Lord, but this illusion is short-lived because he quickly surrenders to Krsna and allows Him to enlighten him with the verses of the Bhagavad-gītā. Similarly, if we listen to the Bhagavad-gītā with the same attention and surrender, our current situation of illusion and bewilderment can be subdued.
After fulfilling Arjuna’s order, Krsna said: "Just behold, Pārtha, all the Kurus assembled here." emphasizing that there were Kurus on both sides. They were all members of the same family, descendants of the great King Bhārata. Krsna showed both armies as if saying: See Arjuna, that's the situation, there are Kurus on both sides, what are you going to do now?
This is a very dramatic moment. Positioned between the two opposing armies, Arjuna can see everyone who came to fight. On the opposite side, he saw his cousin-brothers, uncles like Śalya and Śakuni, dear friends like Aśvatthāmā, his martial teacher Droṇācārya, and even Bhīṣma, his grandfather. The battle of Kurukṣetra was a fratricidal war that put members of the same family against each other, and most of the family was on the other side supporting Duryodhana.
Arjuna was thus faced with a terrible choice: fight his own relatives, killing them in battle or being killed by them, or neglect his dharma, his sacred duty as a kṣatriya. For a righteous and honored person like Arjuna, dishonor is worse than death, but how could he live after the death of his relatives?
We can see that we face many problems in life, but rarely one will have to face such a dilemma as Arjuna. We frequently have to make difficult decisions, but it usually doesn’t go to such an extreme. If after hearing the Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna was able to find a solution for the difficult situation he was in, certainly we can also find solutions for whatever problems we face.
In the purport, Srila Prabhupada mentions "brothers like Duryodhana, sons like Lakṣmaṇa". Duryodhana and his brothers were cousins of the Pandavas, but because they all grew up together, they were like brothers in estimation. Similarly, Lakṣmaṇa (the son of Duryodhana) was like a son of Arjuna. The words appear in the verse as bhrātrn (brothers), putrān (sons) and pautrān (grandsons). Arjuna had only four brothers and four sons, and none of them were on the opposite side, but in Vedic culture, close people like Duryodhana and Lakṣmaṇa were considered brothers and sons. Srila Prabhupada also uses the term "cousins and brothers" in some of his purports, in the same connection. Duryodhana and his brothers were cousins of the Pandavas, but at the same time, they were like brothers.
Main points in the purports of Srila Prabhupada:
Sañjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, having thus been addressed by Arjuna, Lord Kṛṣṇa drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties.
a) Arjuna is called Guḍākeśa, the conqueror of sleep and ignorance, reinforcing his position as a pure devotee of the Lord, who can't forget Him even for a moment. In other words, Arjuna was situated in samādhi. Krsna is called Hṛṣīkeśa, because He could understand Arjuna's purpose in seeing both armies.
"In the presence of Bhīṣma, Droṇa and all the other chieftains of the world, the Lord said, "Just behold, Pārtha, all the Kurus assembled here."
a) Krsna is in the hearts of everyone and knows everything, therefore He could understand what was going on in the mind of Arjuna. He called him Pārtha and told him to behold the Kurus anticipating his hesitancy in fighting.
"There Arjuna could see, within the midst of the armies of both parties, his fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, and also his fathers-in-law and well-wishers. When the son of Kuntī, Arjuna, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion and spoke thus."
a) He could observe many relatives and friends in the opposing army, including seniors and teachers, brothers and sons in estimation as well as many friends.
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