arjuna uvāca senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me ’cyuta

arjuna uvāca senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me ’cyuta Although Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, out of His causeless mercy He was engaged in the service of His friend. He never fails in His affection for His devotees, and thus He is addressed herein as infallible. As charioteer, He had to carry out the orders of Arjuna, and since He did not hesitate to do so, He is addressed as infallible. Although He had accepted the position of a charioteer for His devotee, His supreme position was not challenged. In all circumstances, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hṛṣīkeśa, the Lord of the total senses. The relationship between the Lord and His servitor is very sweet and transcendental. 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.

yāvad etān nirīkṣe ’haṁ yoddhu-kāmān avasthitān kair mayā saha yoddhavyam asmin raṇa-samudyame

yāvad etān nirīkṣe ’haṁ yoddhu-kāmān avasthitān kair mayā saha yoddhavyam asmin raṇa-samudyame 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.

yotsyamānān avekṣe ’haṁ ya ete ’tra samāgatāḥ dhārtarāṣṭrasya durbuddher yuddhe priya-cikīrṣavaḥ

yotsyamānān avekṣe ’haṁ ya ete ’tra samāgatāḥ dhārtarāṣṭrasya durbuddher yuddhe priya-cikīrṣavaḥ 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.

sañjaya uvāca evam ukto hṛṣīkeśo guḍākeśena bhārata senayor ubhayor madhye sthāpayitvā rathottamam

sañjaya uvāca evam ukto hṛṣīkeśo guḍākeśena bhārata senayor ubhayor madhye sthāpayitvā rathottamam 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.

bhīṣma-droṇa-pramukhataḥ sarveṣāṁ ca mahī-kṣitām uvāca pārtha paśyaitān samavetān kurūn iti

bhīṣma-droṇa-pramukhataḥ sarveṣāṁ ca mahī-kṣitām uvāca pārtha paśyaitān samavetān kurūn iti 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.

tatrāpaśyat sthitān pārthaḥ pitṝn atha pitāmahān ācāryān mātulān bhrātṝn putrān pautrān sakhīṁs tathā śvaśurān suhṛdaś caiva senayor ubhayor api

tatrāpaśyat sthitān pārthaḥ pitṝn atha pitāmahān ācāryān mātulān bhrātṝn putrān pautrān sakhīṁs tathā śvaśurān suhṛdaś caiva senayor ubhayor api 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.

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.

vepathuś ca śarīre me roma-harṣaś ca jāyate gāṇḍīvaṁ sraṁsate hastāt tvak caiva paridahyate

vepathuś ca śarīre me roma-harṣaś ca jāyate gāṇḍīvaṁ sraṁsate hastāt tvak caiva paridahyate There are two kinds of trembling of the body, and two kinds of standings of the hair on end. Such phenomena occur either in great spiritual ecstasy or out of great fear under material conditions. There is no fear in transcendental realization. Arjuna’s symptoms in this situation are out of material fear – namely, loss of life. This is evident from other symptoms also; he became so impatient that his famous bow Gāṇḍīva was slipping from his hands, and, because his heart was burning within him, he was feeling a burning sensation of the skin. All these are due to a material conception of life.

na ca śaknomy avasthātuṁ bhramatīva ca me manaḥ nimittāni ca paśyāmi viparītāni keśava

na ca śaknomy avasthātuṁ bhramatīva ca me manaḥ nimittāni ca paśyāmi viparītāni keśava Due to his impatience, Arjuna was unable to stay on the battlefield, and he was forgetting himself on account of this weakness of his mind. Excessive attachment for material things puts a man in such a bewildering condition of existence. Bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syāt (Bhāg. 11.2.37): such fearfulness and loss of mental equilibrium take place in persons who are too affected by material conditions. Arjuna envisioned only painful reverses in the battlefield – he would not be happy even by gaining victory over the foe. The words nimittāni viparītāni are significant. When a man sees only frustration in his expectations, he thinks, “Why am I here?” Everyone is interested in himself and his own welfare. No one is interested in the Supreme Self. Arjuna is showing ignorance of his real self-interest by Kṛṣṇa’s will. One’s real self-interest lies in Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa. The conditioned soul forgets this, and therefore suffers material pains. Arjuna thought that his victory in the battle would only be a cause of lamentation for him.