BG 1.15 — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 1.15Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · Arjuna → Krishna · Hṛṣīkeśa · anuṣṭubh

पाञ्चजन्यं हृषीकेशो देवदत्तं धनंजयः ।

पौण्ड्रं दध्मौ महाशङ्खं भीमकर्मा वृकोदरः ॥

pāñcajanyaṃ hṛṣīkeśo devadattaṃ dhanaṃjayaḥ

pauṇḍraṃ dadhmau mahā-śaṅkhaṃ bhīma-karmā vṛkodaraḥ

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Krishna sounded his conch Pāñcajanya, Arjuna sounded Devadatta, and the mighty Bhīma sounded the great conch Pauṇḍra.

ekras · bhāṣya

Three conches name themselves. "Krishna sounded Pancajanya, Arjuna sounded Devadatta, and the mighty Bhima sounded the great conch Paundra." Each conch has a story behind its name. Pancajanya is Krishna's. There was once a demon called Panchajana who lived in the form of a conch.

Krishna killed him and took the conch as his own — the conch was the body of what he had defeated. The verse names Krishna Hrishikesha, master of the senses. Devadatta is Arjuna's. Indra gave it to him during the battle with the Nivatakavaca demons; the sound was loud enough to shake an enemy army. Arjuna is called Dhananjaya — wealth-conqueror — because of the wealth he won for the Pandavas during the Rajasuya yajna. Paundra is Bhima's, the great conch. Bhima is Bhima-karma, doer of terrible deeds, because he killed Hidimbasura, Bakasura, Jatasura, Kicaka, Jarasandha. He is also Vrikodara, wolf-belly, because in his stomach he carried, beyond ordinary digestive fire, a special fire called Vrika (wolf) that let him digest enormous amounts. Three conches, three names, three histories. The Pandava answer to the Kaurava noise is not just sound; it is sound carrying the names of who is making it.

Context

where

Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Arjuna → Krishna · vocative Hṛṣīkeśa

preceded by — BG 1.14

Then Mādhava and Arjuna, standing on that great chariot drawn by white horses, raised their divine conches and blew them in answer.

What's going on

Krishna sounded his conch Pāñcajanya, Arjuna sounded Devadatta, and the mighty Bhīma sounded the great conch Pauṇḍra.

Sūtras through this verse (99)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

1.1Means and end set out as one paired axis.───→here1.15───→2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleapproach

───→here1.15───→2.12Every soul named here is a real distinct self.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)approach

───→here1.15───→2.47Hold no mine-ness on body or on fruit.

show all 99

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaapproach · other

───→here1.15───→2.18Image perishes, source endures

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeapproach

───→here1.15───→2.18The mirror breaks but the sun is unhurt.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesapproach

───→here1.15───→2.23Even great gods are unequal in their glory.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionapproach

───→here1.15───→2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksapproach

───→here1.15───→2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadapproach

───→here1.15───→2.23Nāradīya names what reason cannot prove.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsapproach

───→here1.15───→2.39The two paths name one practice, one fruit.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeapproach

───→here1.15───→2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do aloneapproach

───→here1.15───→2.23Without worship of Hari no one ever crosses.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotapproach

───→here1.15───→2.13Self-survival is settled by śruti, not by reason.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here1.15───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here1.15───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actapproach

───→here1.15───→2.47Only a human body can do new action.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here1.15───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workapproach

───→here1.15───→2.45Rise above the modes, said in chapter two.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipapproach

───→here1.15───→2.31A warrior's own duty is the war he faces.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterapproach

───→here1.15───→2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingapproach

───→here1.15───→2.14Bear pleasure and pain as a passing season.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here1.15───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here1.15───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here1.15───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

1.1Dialectical chain present from line one.───→here1.15───→2.39Nanu… tatrāha: one pair, named.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

1.2Same form repeats on the next verse.───→here1.15───→2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathapproach · v2

───→here1.15───→2.47Right to action

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourapproach · v2

───→here1.15───→2.13Bodies pass, the dehī does not

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterapproach · v2

───→here1.15───→1.29The body fails

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here1.15───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here1.15───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesapproach · v2

───→here1.15───→2.41Single-pointed buddhi

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here1.15───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here1.15───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictapproach · other

───→here1.15───→1.31Bad omens

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthaapproach · other

───→here1.15───→2.10Thesis flat

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseaseapproach

───→here1.15───→2.10Sorrow and delusion are the seed of saṁsāra.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downapproach

───→here1.15───→2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youapproach

───→here1.15───→2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentapproach

───→here1.15───→2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here1.15───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here1.15───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimapproach

───→here1.15───→2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here1.15───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asiapproach

───→here1.15───→2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledapproach

───→here1.15───→2.47Primary fitness needs ripened conditions.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here1.15───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyapproach

───→here1.15───→2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here1.15───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiapproach

───→here1.15───→2.47Action stays; the wish for fruit goes.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentapproach

───→here1.15───→2.39Wisdom section wound up here.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideapproach

───→here1.15───→2.13Same I as a child is now in this body.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by verseapproach

───→here1.15───→2.12Plurals block monistic absorption.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedapproach

───→here1.15───→2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaapproach

───→here1.15───→2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here1.15───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātraapproach

───→here1.15───→2.13Pratyabhijñā backed by śruti citation.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhaapproach

───→here1.15───→2.13Two objections, three pādas glossed.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availableapproach

───→here1.15───→2.13Recognition is literal across bodies.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥapproach

───→here1.15───→2.11Madhva first speaks, Jayatīrtha supplies.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

1.1Discrimination overrun by grief and confusion.───→here1.15───→2.1Pity and despair treated as guests, not host.

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanaapproach · other

───→here1.15───→2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here1.15───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaapproach

───→here1.15───→1.28Arjuna at the edge: 'Drishtvemam svajanam Krishna yuyutsum samupasthitam, sidant

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipapproach

───→here1.15───→2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handapproach

───→here1.15───→2.47Middle finger. Nishkama karma plus the failure-gym. 'Karmany evadhikaras te, ma

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralapproach

───→here1.15───→2.13The memorial-register anchor. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, ta

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101approach

───→here1.15───→2.13Reincarnation pillar. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha deha

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here1.15───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netiapproach

───→here1.15───→2.13Body changes. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara.' Gaurav opens the

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningapproach

───→here1.15───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsapproach

───→here1.15───→2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landapproach

───→here1.15───→2.39Pure mind for knowing, impure mind for acting.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingapproach

───→here1.15───→2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherapproach

───→here1.15───→2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here1.15───→3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalJ

Sañjaya's frame — evidentiary, not ornamentalbetween

1.2Dṛṣṭvā tu — Sañjaya speaks to be heard later.───→here1.15───→11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesbetween

1.1See Viṭṭhaleśa's hand for chapter one's gloss.───→here1.15───→1.31The despondency catalogue goes to Viṭṭhaleśa.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketapproach

───→here1.15───→2.10The teaching opens at the carama-bracket.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here1.15───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorapproach

───→here1.15───→2.12Plurals refute the unitary-self read.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionapproach

───→here1.15───→2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationapproach

───→here1.15───→2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefapproach

───→here1.15───→2.10Krishna smiles before the first mā-śucaḥ.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here1.15───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesapproach

───→here1.15───→2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderapproach

───→here1.15───→2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personapproach

───→here1.15───→2.12The eternal among the eternal, conscious among the conscious.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordapproach

───→here1.15───→2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridapproach

───→here1.15───→2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

1.1A raft of teaching crosses the grief-sea.───→here1.15───→2.7I am sunk in pity; ask, do not order.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

1.1The first epithet: supremely compassionate.───→here1.15───→4.7When right wanes, I take a body.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingapproach

───→here1.15───→2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here1.15───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerapproach

───→here1.15───→2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessapproach

───→here1.15───→2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesapproach

───→here1.15───→2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)approach

───→here1.15───→2.10Bracket opens here.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)approach

───→here1.15───→2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.

Śabda · lemmas (11 unique · 11 occurrences)

पाञ्चजन्यम् pāñcajanya — Pāñcajanya (Kṛṣṇa's conch) · accusative masculine singular noun
हृषीकेशः hṛṣīkeśa — lord of the senses (epithet of Kṛṣṇa: hṛṣīka 'sense' + īśa 'lord') · nominative masculine singular noun

show all 11

देवदत्तम् devadatta — Devadatta (Arjuna's conch); also: 'God-given' (a generic name like 'John Doe') · accusative masculine singular noun
धनंजयः dhanaṃjaya — winner of wealth (epithet of Arjuna) · nominative masculine singular noun
पौण्ड्रम् pauṇḍra — Pauṇḍra (Bhīma's conch) · accusative masculine singular noun
दध्मौ √dham — to blow (verbal root) · past indicative 3rd person singular verb
महा mahat — great, large; the cosmic intellect (mahattattva) · compound
शङ्खम् śaṅkha — conch shell; the warrior's signal-conch · accusative masculine singular noun
भीम bhīma — Bhīma (the second Pāṇḍava); also: terrible · compound
कर्मा karman — action, deed, the law of action · nominative masculine singular noun
वृकोदरः vṛkodara — Vṛkodara (epithet of Bhīma, 'wolf-bellied') · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If Kṛṣṇa is 'Hṛṣīkeśa' (lord of all senses) before the battle even begins, what does that imply about who is truly the agent of every action that follows in the Gītā?
02Each warrior sounds his own conch under his own name — how does personal identity (nāma, the named self) survive as real and meaningful within frameworks that assert the ultimate non-difference of ātman and Brahman?

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03Madhusūdana reads the absence of named conches on the Kaurava side as a sign of dharmic deficit — can the presence or absence of a 'name' (nāman) function as a moral index, and what does that mean for how traditions treat anonymity and authorship?
04Rāmānuja's Bhagavān sounds his conch first, causing the three worlds to tremble, and the effect is registered inside Duryodhana's soldiers as a conviction ('the army is already lost') — does divine action work primarily through external force or through the interior transformation of perception?
05Vallabha's Puṣṭi reading sees Duryodhana's splitting heart as a shadow of Kṛṣṇa's overflowing joy — in what sense can terror and grief be forms of grace (prasāda), and how does that reframe suffering in the Bhāgavata tradition?
06The verse lists conches in a hierarchy: Kṛṣṇa → Arjuna → Bhīma → Yudhiṣṭhira et al. — how do commentarial traditions use sequencing and enumeration (krama) as a vehicle for theological claims?
07Śaṅkara chose not to comment on the first chapter at all — what does a commentator's silence communicate, and how should a reader weigh the absence of a bhāṣya against the presence of one?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before any high-stakes action — a difficult conversation, a public performance, a competitive situation — pause to notice whether you identify as the doer or as the awareness through which action flows. The epithet 'Hṛṣīkeśa' applied to the charioteer suggests that the deepest part of you is already the witness of your senses, not their servant. Practice: for one day, label each of your actions with the Arjuna-frame ('I am acting') and then re-label them with the Hṛṣīkeśa-frame ('acting is happening through this body-mind'). Notice which labeling reduces anxiety and which produces clarity rather than passivity.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Rāmānuja's verse is about Bhagavān standing on the chariot with his devotee, amplifying the devotee's sound until it shakes three worlds. The everyday application: when you undertake service (kainkarya) that is genuinely offered to something larger than your ego — a cause, a family, a community — you are not alone on the chariot. Bring that recognition into a concrete act of service today. Do it in full awareness that the 'chariot' you stand on (your skills, your body, your relationships) is not your possession but an instrument given for this moment's service.

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Dvaita

Madhva's framework insists that your individuality (jīvatva) is real and permanent — you are not dissolved into the divine, you are a real being in real relationship with Hari. This has a practical corollary: own your actions and your identity without disclaiming them as 'not really mine.' Dhanañjaya really did conquer those kings; Bhīma really does have fearsome deeds. Accountability, pride in craft, and honest self-assessment are not obstacles to devotion — they are the form devotion takes in a being who is genuinely, permanently distinct. Today: take full credit (and full responsibility) for one thing you did well and one thing you did poorly.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's reading ends with the sound splitting hearts — bibheda, pierced. The Puṣṭi teaching is that Kṛṣṇa's overflowing joy (ānanda-pravāha) reaches you even through disruption, fear, and loss. The everyday application: when something 'splits your heart' today — grief, sudden beauty, unexpected failure — do not immediately reach for the fix. Stay with the splitting. Puṣṭi practice reads that crack as the entry-point of prasāda. Journal one heart-splitting moment from the past week and ask: what was trying to enter?

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's bhāṣya is a naming exercise: he carefully derives 'Vṛkodara' (wolf-belly), 'Bhīma-karma' (fearsome deeds), insisting that each name carries the dharma of the named. The everyday application is attention to how you name yourself and others. The names we use — in introductions, in self-talk, in how we introduce colleagues — are not neutral. They invoke specific qualities and responsibilities. Today: choose one name or title you use for yourself and trace what dharma (obligation, quality, role) it actually carries. Does how you act match the name?

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's key observation is asymmetry: the Pāṇḍava conches have famous names, the Kaurava conches do not. He reads this as dharmic sanction made visible in a small detail. The everyday application is attention to the unnamed in your own life and work — the tools, the practices, the relationships that carry no prestige but without which nothing would hold together. Madhusūdana's synthesis teaches that jñāna (discernment) and bhakti (love) both require you to see what others overlook. Today: identify one unnamed, unrecognized thing in your life that is doing essential work, and give it its name.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 1, Verse 15: Arjuna to Krishna — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga