Chapter 1Verse 30 of 47

Bhagavad Gita 1.30

गाण्डीवं स्रंसते हस्तात्त्वक्चैव परिदह्यते । न च शक्नोम्यवस्थातुं भ्रमतीव च मे मनः ॥

gāṇḍīvaṃ sraṃsate hastāt tvak caiva paridahyate | na ca śaknomy avasthātuṃ bhramatīva ca me manaḥ ||

Translation

The Gandiva slips from my hand; my skin burns; I am unable to stand still; my mind whirls.

Gāṇḍīvaṃ sraṃsate. The bow slips from his hand. The bow has a name; the name is famous. Arjuna does not say "my weapon"; he says Gāṇḍīva, as if the loss is a named loss, a specific defection of a specific instrument. When the thing that defines you slides out of your grip, the body burns, the legs fail, the mind spins. The text names the four collapses in one verse: bow, skin, posture, mind. Each in its own clause. Each its own small ending.

Reflection

When your resolve slips (your Gandiva), what happens to you?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter One

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