BG 1.25 — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 1.25Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · Arjuna → Krishna · anuṣṭubh

भीष्मद्रोणप्रमुखतः सर्वेषां च महीक्षिताम् ।

उवाच पार्थ पश्यैतान् समवेतान् कुरूनिति ॥

bhīṣma-droṇa-pramukhataḥ sarveṣāṃ ca mahīkṣitām

uvāca pārtha paśyaitān samavetān kurūn iti

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

meaning

Krishna drove the chariot between the armies, positioned it before Bhīṣma, Droṇa, and all the assembled kings, and said: "Pārtha, behold these Kurus gathered here.

ekras · bhāṣya

Krishna positions the chariot specifically in front of Bhishma, Drona, and all the assembled kings. The placement is deliberate. Then he says one word. "Partha, look at these assembled Kurus." The address is Partha — son of Pritha. Pritha is Kunti's other name.

Krishna calls Arjuna by his maternal name, the name that goes through his mother. Of all the names Arjuna carries, Krishna picks the one that is going to be tested next — the tie to his maternal line, which includes the cousins on the other side. The verb is pashya — look. The same word Duryodhana used to Drona in 1.3. The doublet is built into the chapter. Whoever is about to break is asked to look. Samavetan kurun — the assembled Kurus.

Krishna does not say "the Kauravas" or "the Pandavas." He says the Kurus — the family-name that holds both sides. In Krishna's framing the war is not between two enemies; it is one clan splitting itself. Arjuna is being asked to see this directly.

Context

where

Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Arjuna → Krishna

preceded by — BG 1.24

Addressed by Arjuna, Krishna drove the finest chariot to the open ground between both armies and held it there.

What's going on

Krishna drove the chariot between the armies, positioned it before Bhīṣma, Droṇa, and all the assembled kings, and said: “Pārtha, behold these Kurus gathered here.

Sūtras through this verse (99)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

1.1Means and end set out as one paired axis.───→here1.25───→2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleapproach

───→here1.25───→2.12Every soul named here is a real distinct self.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)approach

───→here1.25───→2.47Hold no mine-ness on body or on fruit.

show all 99

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaapproach · other

───→here1.25───→2.18Image perishes, source endures

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeapproach

───→here1.25───→2.18The mirror breaks but the sun is unhurt.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesapproach

───→here1.25───→2.23Even great gods are unequal in their glory.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionapproach

───→here1.25───→2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksapproach

───→here1.25───→2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadapproach

───→here1.25───→2.23Nāradīya names what reason cannot prove.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsapproach

───→here1.25───→2.39The two paths name one practice, one fruit.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeapproach

───→here1.25───→2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do aloneapproach

───→here1.25───→2.23Without worship of Hari no one ever crosses.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotapproach

───→here1.25───→2.13Self-survival is settled by śruti, not by reason.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here1.25───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here1.25───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actapproach

───→here1.25───→2.47Only a human body can do new action.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here1.25───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

───→here1.25───→2.45Rise above the modes, said in chapter two.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipapproach

───→here1.25───→2.31A warrior's own duty is the war he faces.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterapproach

───→here1.25───→2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingapproach

───→here1.25───→2.14Bear pleasure and pain as a passing season.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here1.25───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here1.25───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here1.25───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

1.1Dialectical chain present from line one.───→here1.25───→2.39Nanu… tatrāha: one pair, named.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

1.2Same form repeats on the next verse.───→here1.25───→2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathapproach · v2

───→here1.25───→2.47Right to action

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourapproach · v2

───→here1.25───→2.13Bodies pass, the dehī does not

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterapproach · v2

───→here1.25───→1.29The body fails

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here1.25───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here1.25───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesapproach · v2

───→here1.25───→2.41Single-pointed buddhi

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here1.25───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here1.25───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictapproach · other

───→here1.25───→1.31Bad omens

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthaapproach · other

───→here1.25───→2.10Thesis flat

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseaseapproach

───→here1.25───→2.10Sorrow and delusion are the seed of saṁsāra.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downapproach

───→here1.25───→2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youapproach

───→here1.25───→2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentapproach

───→here1.25───→2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here1.25───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here1.25───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimapproach

───→here1.25───→2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here1.25───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asiapproach

───→here1.25───→2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledapproach

───→here1.25───→2.47Primary fitness needs ripened conditions.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here1.25───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyapproach

───→here1.25───→2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here1.25───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiapproach

───→here1.25───→2.47Action stays; the wish for fruit goes.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentapproach

───→here1.25───→2.39Wisdom section wound up here.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideapproach

───→here1.25───→2.13Same I as a child is now in this body.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by verseapproach

───→here1.25───→2.12Plurals block monistic absorption.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedapproach

───→here1.25───→2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaapproach

───→here1.25───→2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here1.25───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

───→here1.25───→2.13Pratyabhijñā backed by śruti citation.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

───→here1.25───→2.13Two objections, three pādas glossed.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availableapproach

───→here1.25───→2.13Recognition is literal across bodies.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥapproach

───→here1.25───→2.11Madhva first speaks, Jayatīrtha supplies.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

1.1Discrimination overrun by grief and confusion.───→here1.25───→2.1Pity and despair treated as guests, not host.

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanaapproach · other

───→here1.25───→2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here1.25───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaapproach

───→here1.25───→1.28Arjuna at the edge: 'Drishtvemam svajanam Krishna yuyutsum samupasthitam, sidant

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipapproach

───→here1.25───→2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handapproach

───→here1.25───→2.47Middle finger. Nishkama karma plus the failure-gym. 'Karmany evadhikaras te, ma

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralapproach

───→here1.25───→2.13The memorial-register anchor. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, ta

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101approach

───→here1.25───→2.13Reincarnation pillar. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha deha

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here1.25───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netiapproach

───→here1.25───→2.13Body changes. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara.' Gaurav opens the

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

───→here1.25───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsapproach

───→here1.25───→2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landapproach

───→here1.25───→2.39Pure mind for knowing, impure mind for acting.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingapproach

───→here1.25───→2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherapproach

───→here1.25───→2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here1.25───→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.───→here1.25───→11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesbetween

1.1See Viṭṭhaleśa's hand for chapter one's gloss.───→here1.25───→1.31The despondency catalogue goes to Viṭṭhaleśa.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketapproach

───→here1.25───→2.10The teaching opens at the carama-bracket.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here1.25───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorapproach

───→here1.25───→2.12Plurals refute the unitary-self read.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionapproach

───→here1.25───→2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationapproach

───→here1.25───→2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefapproach

───→here1.25───→2.10Krishna smiles before the first mā-śucaḥ.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here1.25───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesapproach

───→here1.25───→2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderapproach

───→here1.25───→2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personapproach

───→here1.25───→2.12The eternal among the eternal, conscious among the conscious.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordapproach

───→here1.25───→2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridapproach

───→here1.25───→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.───→here1.25───→2.7I am sunk in pity; ask, do not order.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

1.1The first epithet: supremely compassionate.───→here1.25───→4.7When right wanes, I take a body.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingapproach

───→here1.25───→2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here1.25───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerapproach

───→here1.25───→2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessapproach

───→here1.25───→2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesapproach

───→here1.25───→2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)approach

───→here1.25───→2.10Bracket opens here.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)approach

───→here1.25───→2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 13 occurrences)

पार्थ pārtha — son of Pṛthā (Kuntī); epithet of Arjuna · vocative masculine singular noun · also at 1.26, 1.28, 1.29, 1.30, 2.3, 2.21 +40
उवाच √vac — to speak (verbal root) · past indicative 3rd person singular verb

show all 13

भीष्म bhīṣma — Bhīṣma (the Kuru patriarch); also: terrible, frightful · compound
द्रोण droṇa — Droṇa (the brahmin warrior-teacher of the Pāṇḍavas + Kauravas) · compound
प्रमुखतस् pramukhatas — in front of, facing (pramukha + -tas)
सर्वेषाम् sarva — all, entire · genitive masculine plural noun
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
महीक्षिताम् mahīkṣit — ruler of the earth, king (mahī + kṣit) · genitive masculine plural noun
पश्य paś — to see (verbal root, suppletive of √dṛś) · present imperative 2nd person singular verb
एतान् etad — this (proximal demonstrative) · accusative masculine plural noun
समवेतान् sam-√ave — to enter together, meet (sam- + ava- + √i) · accusative masculine plural participle noun
कुरून् kuru — Kuru (the dynastic name); imperative of √kṛ (do!) · accusative masculine plural noun
इति iti — thus (quotative particle)

Praśna · so what (7)

01Why does Kṛṣṇa comply with Arjuna's request immediately and exactly — and what does instantaneous obedience from the Lord tell us about the theology of service across these six schools?
02The verse names Bhīṣma and Droṇa before all other kings. What does their separate naming signal about the nature of the conflict Arjuna is about to face — and why does Madhusūdana call this 'atiprādhānya-sūcana' (indication of supreme pre-eminence)?

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03Kṛṣṇa addresses Arjuna as 'Pārtha' here rather than by his heroic epithet 'Arjuna.' Multiple commentators mark this choice as pointed. What maternal or limitation-signaling weight does this vocative carry, and how does it differ across Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, and Advaita-bhakti readings?
04The verse is a single action — chariot positioned, command spoken — yet it generates the most diverse doctrinal commentary of any narrative verse in the first chapter. What does this concentration of interpretation on a spare moment reveal about how each school locates meaning: in the text, in the act, or in the agent?
05Madhusūdana reads Kṛṣṇa as already knowing Arjuna's grief is coming ('śoka-moha upasthitau iti vijñāya'). Does divine foreknowledge of a devotee's crisis constitute grace, manipulation, or pedagogical design — and how do the Dvaita and Śuddhādvaita frameworks answer differently?
06Vallabha sees Kṛṣṇa entering the līlā on Arjuna's terms, allowing himself to be 'directed.' How does this model of the Lord willingly taking the subordinate role within a devotee's request reshape our ordinary understanding of authority and surrender?
07Śrīdhara restricts himself to the literal: chariot placed, Kurus named, look. Is literalism itself a doctrinal stance — a form of respect for the bounded polysemy of the mūla text — or does it simply defer the interpretive question to the reader?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you are about to face a confrontation that fills you with dread, notice that the dread arises before you have truly looked. The Advaita instruction embedded in this moment is: look first, evaluate afterward. Avidyā (ignorance) projects fear onto what has not yet been seen. Sit with the instruction 'paśya' (behold) before the reactive mind begins its commentary — the same sequence Kṛṣṇa imposes on Arjuna. Seeing clearly, without the overlay of projected grief, is the first step of viveka (discernment), which is itself the gateway to the jñāna that Śaṅkara will unfold from chapter two onward.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

When a colleague, a child, or anyone in your care asks you to do something within your power, act immediately and completely — 'tatkṣaṇād eva.' Rāmānuja reads Kṛṣṇa's instant compliance as a model of how kainkarya (loving service) actually operates: without delay, without bargaining, without the petty resistance of ego. This is not submission; it is the supreme person demonstrating that serving those you love with your full capability is itself an expression of divine love. Practice this today in one small act of service given fully and without hesitation.

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Dvaita

In Madhva's reading, what Arjuna is about to see — the assembled commanders — is granted to him by Hari's will, not merely by the logistics of chariot positioning. Carry this into any situation where you are given an unusually clear view of a problem or a person: treat the clarity itself as grace, not as something you engineered. The distinctness of each person you see — their real individuality, their real difference from you — is not an obstacle to relationship but the very structure within which Hari's order operates. Bhedas (differences) are real; honor them rather than trying to dissolve them.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's reading says: Kṛṣṇa arranged exactly the vision that would crack Arjuna open so that the teaching could enter. When life places you before a scene that breaks your composure — family, loss, conflict — consider that the scene itself may be prasāda (grace-gift): not punishment, but the precise arrangement needed for your next opening. The Puṣṭi-mārga application is to receive crisis as choreography rather than as accident, and to ask what Kṛṣṇa is making possible through the discomfort rather than how to escape it.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's 'pramukhataḥ' (directly in front of, face-to-face) instructs a posture: when something difficult must be confronted — a difficult conversation, a hard truth, a feared encounter — place yourself directly before it, not at an angle, not through intermediaries. The chariot is not parked to the side; it faces the assembly. Bhakti in its most grounded form is the willingness to stand face-to-face with what you are afraid to see, trusting that the Lord who positioned you there will not abandon you in the looking.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana notes that Kṛṣṇa, as Hṛṣīkeśa (master of the senses), already knows your hidden intentions — 'nigūḍhābhiprāyajña.' The practical teaching: stop managing your inner life for an audience, including a divine one. Your grief, your confusion, your attachment — they are already seen, already known, already accounted for in how the situation has been arranged. The synthesizing application is to bring your full inner state into prayer without concealment, the way Arjuna's grief is about to spill out entirely — because Kṛṣṇa both foresaw it and welcomed it as the necessary opening of the dialogue.

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 25: Arjuna to Krishna — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga