The servitor is always ready to render service to the Lord, and, similarly, the Lord is always seeking an opportunity to render some service to the devotee. He takes greater pleasure in His pure devotee’s assuming the advantageous position of ordering Him than He does in being the giver of orders. Since He is master, everyone is under His orders, and no one is above Him to order Him. But when He finds that a pure devotee is ordering Him, He obtains transcendental pleasure, although He is the infallible master in all circumstances.
As a pure devotee of the Lord, Arjuna had no desire to fight with his cousins and brothers, but he was forced to come onto the battlefield by the obstinacy of Duryodhana, who was never agreeable to any peaceful negotiation. Therefore, he was very anxious to see who the leading persons present on the battlefield were. Although there was no question of a peacemaking endeavor on the battlefield, he wanted to see them again, and to see how much they were bent upon demanding an unwanted war.
TEXT 23
योत्स्यमानानवेक्षेऽहं य एतेऽत्र समागताः ।
धार्तराष्ट्रस्य दुर्बुद्धेर्युद्धे प्रियचिकीर्षवः ।। 23 ।।
yotsyamānān avekṣe ’haṁ
ya ete ’tra samāgatāḥ
dhārtarāṣṭrasya durbuddher
yuddhe priya-cikīrṣavaḥ
yotsyamānān – those who will be fighting; avekṣe – let me see; aham – I; ye – who; ete – those; atra – here; samāgatāḥ – assembled; dhārtarāṣṭrasya – for the son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra; durbuddheḥ – evil-minded; yuddhe – in the fight; priya – well; cikīrṣavaḥ – wishing.
Let me see those who have come here to fight, wishing to please the evil-minded son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.
It was an open secret that Duryodhana wanted to usurp the kingdom of the Pāṇḍavas by evil plans, in collaboration with his father, Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Therefore, all persons who had joined the side of Duryodhana must have been birds of the same feather. Arjuna wanted to see them on the battlefield before the fight was begun, just to learn who they were, but he had no intention of proposing peace negotiations with them. It was also a fact that he wanted to see them to make an estimate of the strength which he had to face, although he was quite confident of victory because Kṛṣṇa was sitting by his side.
TEXT 24
सञ्जय उवाच—
एवमुक्तो हृषीकेशो गुडाकेशेन भारत ।
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये स्थापयित्वा रथोत्तमम् ।। 24 ।।
sañjaya uvāca
evam ukto hṛṣīkeśo
guḍākeśena bhārata
senayor ubhayor madhye
sthāpayitvā rathottamam
sañjayaḥ uvāca – Sañjaya said; evam – thus; uktaḥ – addressed; hṛṣīkeśaḥ – Lord Kṛṣṇa; guḍākeśena – by Arjuna; bhārata – O descendant of Bharata; senayoḥ – of the armies; ubhayoḥ – both; madhye – in the midst; sthāpayitvā – placing; ratha-uttamam – the finest chariot.
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.
In this verse Arjuna is referred to as Guḍākeśa. Guḍākā means sleep, and one who conquers sleep is called guḍākeśa. Sleep also means ignorance. So Arjuna conquered both sleep and ignorance because of his friendship with Kṛṣṇa. As a great devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he could not forget Kṛṣṇa even for a moment, because that is the nature of a devotee. Either in waking or in sleep, a devotee of the Lord can never be free from thinking of Kṛṣṇa’s name, form, qualities and pastimes. Thus a devotee of Kṛṣṇa can conquer both sleep and ignorance simply by thinking of Kṛṣṇa constantly. This is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or samādhi. As Hṛṣīkeśa, or the director of the senses and mind of every living entity, Kṛṣṇa could understand Arjuna’s purpose in placing the chariot in the midst of the armies. Thus He did so, and spoke as follows.
TEXT 25
भीष्म -द्रोण -प्रमुखतः सर्वेषां च महीक्षिताम् ।
उवाच पार्थ पश्यैतान् समवेतान् कुरूनिति ।। 25 ।।
bhīṣma-droṇa-pramukhataḥ
sarveṣāṁ ca mahī-kṣitām
uvāca pārtha paśyaitān
samavetān kurūn iti
bhīṣma – Grandfather Bhīṣma; droṇa – the teacher Droṇa; pramukhataḥ – in front of; sarveṣām – all; ca – also; mahī-kṣitām – chiefs of the world; uvāca – said; pārtha – O son of Pṛthā; paśya – just behold; etān – all of them; samavetān – assembled; kurūn – the members of the Kuru dynasty; iti – thus.
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.”
As the Supersoul of all living entities, Lord Kṛṣṇa could understand what was going on in the mind of Arjuna. The use of the word Hṛṣīkeśa in this connection indicates that He knew everything. And the word Pārtha, meaning “the son of Pṛthā, or Kuntī,” is also similarly significant in reference to Arjuna. As a friend, He wanted to inform Arjuna that because Arjuna was the son of Pṛthā, the sister of His own father Vasudeva, He had agreed to be the charioteer of Arjuna. Now what did Kṛṣṇa mean when He told Arjuna to “behold the Kurus”? Did Arjuna want to stop there and not fight? Kṛṣṇa never expected such things from the son of His aunt Pṛthā. The mind of Arjuna was thus predicted by the Lord in friendly joking.
TEXT 26
तत्रापश्यत्स्थितान्पार्थः पितॄनथ पितामहान् ।
आचार्यान् मातुलान् भ्रातॄन् पुत्रान् पौत्रान् सखींस्तथा ।। 26 ।।
tatrāpaśyat sthitān pārthaḥ
pitṝn atha pitāmahān
ācāryān mātulān bhrātṝn
putrān pautrān sakhīṁs tathā
śvaśurān suhṛdaś caiva
senayor ubhayor api
tatra – there; apaśyat – he could see; sthitān – standing; pārthaḥ – Arjuna; pitṝn – fathers; atha – also; pitāmahān – grandfathers; ācāryān – teachers; mātulān – maternal uncles; bhrātṝn – brothers; putrān – sons; pautrān – grandsons; sakhīn – friends; tathā – too; śvaśurān – fathers-in-law; suhṛdaḥ – well-wishers; ca – also; eva – certainly; senayoḥ – of the armies; ubhayoḥ – of both parties; api – including.
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.
On the battlefield Arjuna could see all kinds of relatives. He could see persons like Bhūriśravā, who were his father’s contemporaries, grandfathers Bhīṣma and Somadatta, teachers like Droṇācārya and Kṛpācārya, maternal uncles like Śalya and Śakuni, brothers like Duryodhana, sons like Lakṣmaṇa, friends like Aśvatthāmā, well-wishers like Kṛtavarmā, etc. He could see also the armies which contained many of his friends.
TEXT 27
श्वशुरान् सुहृदश्चैव सेनयोरुभयोरपि ।
तान् समीक्ष्य स कौन्तेयः सर्वान् बन्धूनवस्थितान् ।। 27 ।।
tān samīkṣya sa kaunteyaḥ
sarvān bandhūn avasthitān
kṛpayā parayāviṣṭo
viṣīdann idam abravīt
tān – all of them; samīkṣya – after seeing; saḥ – he; kaunteyaḥ – the son of Kuntī; sarvān – all kinds of; bandhūn – relatives; avasthitān – situated; kṛpayā – by compassion; parayā – of a high grade; āviṣṭaḥ – overwhelmed; viṣīdan – while lamenting; idam – thus; abravīt – spoke.
When the son of Kuntī, Arjuna, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion and spoke thus.
TEXT 28
अर्जुन उवाच
कृपया परयाविष्टो विषीदन्निदमब्रवीत् ।
दृष्टेवमं स्वजनं कृष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम् ।। 28 ।।
arjuna uvāca
dṛṣṭvemaṁ sva-janaṁ kṛṣṇa
yuyutsuṁ samupasthitam
sīdanti mama gātrāṇi
mukhaṁ ca pariśuṣyati
arjunaḥ uvāca – Arjuna said; dṛṣṭvā – after seeing; imam – all these; sva-janam – kinsmen; kṛṣṇa – O Kṛṣṇa; yuyutsum – all in a fighting spirit; samupasthitam – present; sīdanti – are quivering; mama – my; gātrāṇi – limbs of the body; mukham – mouth; ca – also; pariśuṣyati – is drying up.
Arjuna said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, 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.
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 while he was 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 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:
yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā
sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ
harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā
mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ
“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.” (Bhāg. 5.18.12)
TEXT 29
सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिशुष्यति ।
वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्चे जायते ।। 29 ।।
vepathuś ca śarīre me
roma-harṣaś ca jāyate
gāṇḍīvaṁ sraṁsate hastāt
tvak caiva paridahyate
vepathuḥ – trembling of the body; ca – also; śarīre – on the body; me – my; roma-harṣaḥ – standing of hair on end; ca – also; jāyate –
