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Chapter 1
Link:-In the next verse there is description of what Arjuna did, after seeing members of his family, in both armies.
tansamiksya sa kaunteyah sarvanbandhunavasthitan
krpaya parayavisto visidannidamabravit
Arjuna, the son of Kunti, seeing all those relations present there and standing at their appointed places was filled with extreme compassion and uttered these following words, in sadness. 27
Comment:-
Tan sarvanbandhunavasthitan samiksya:-Besides the warriors mentioned in the previous verse, Arjuna saw great grandfathers, such as Bahlika etc., brothers-in-law, such as Dhrstadyumna, Sikhandi and Suratha etc., sister's husbands, such as Jayadratha etc., and several other relatives, who were posted in different positions in both armies.
Sa kaunteyah krpaya parayavistah:-'Sa kaunteyah' means, that Arjuna, who was ordered by mother Kunti to wage war and who full of valour and stout-heartedness, entered the battle-field to observe the chief warriors of the Kaurava-army, was overcome by cowardice.
After seeing the warriors, who were related to him, through family and learning, on both the sides, Arjuna suddenly developed an attitude of kinship with them because he thought that on both sides there were his kinsmen and they would be killed in the war. In this way it was his family that would be destroyedon either side. Thinking thus his stout-heartedness gave place to cowardice and he gave up the idea of war. This faint-heartedness, has been called by Lord Krsna (in 2/2-3) 'Kaamalam vis., dejection and 'Hrdayadaurbalyam' viz., weakness of the heart. Arjuna (in 2/7) also accepted it as 'Karpanyadosopahatasvabhavah' viz., nature being tainted by the weakness of faint-heartedness. 'Ktpayavistah' means, that faint-heartedness is a temporary phase in him, while stout-heartedness is a permanent virtue, of his life. Thus the temporary phase of faint-heartedness cannot last too long, while his stout-heartedness will remain, forever.
What is extreme cowardice? Extreme cowardice in Arjuna is, that he does not think and make effort to kill his cruel and unrighteous opponents, such as Duryodhana, Duhsasana and gakuni etc., who, without any reason, insulted the Pandavas gave them trouble and tried to kill them, somehow or the other. On the other hand, he is taking pity on them (Gita 1/35,46) and is thus deviating from his duty, of the warrior-class.
Vittdannidamabravtt:-Arjuna, is very much dejected after thinking over the consequences of a war for the family, tribe and country, and speaks the following words .
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