BG 1.4 — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 1.4Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · Arjuna → Krishna · anuṣṭubh

अत्र शूरा महेष्वासा भीमार्जुनसमा युधि ।

युयुधानो विराटश् च द्रुपदश् च महारथः ॥

atra śūrā maheṣvāsā bhīmārjuna-samā yudhi

yuyudhāno virāṭaś ca drupadaś ca mahārathaḥ

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

meaning

Here stand heroes with mighty bows, each a match for Bhīma and Arjuna in battle: Yuyudhāna, Virāṭa, and Drupada the great chariot-warrior.

ekras · bhāṣya

Duryodhana keeps speaking. Now he starts naming names. Each name is chosen for what it will do to the teacher in front of him. "Here stand heroes with mighty bows, equal to Bhima and Arjuna in battle: Yuyudhana, Virata, and Drupada the great chariot-warrior." Maheshvasa means a warrior who carries a great bow. A great bow takes real strength to draw, and what it sends travels with weight. To be called a maheshvasa is to be marked as a warrior whose strike actually lands. Bhimarjuna-sama means equal to Bhima in raw strength, equal to Arjuna in skill with weapons. Bhima and Arjuna are the two strongest Pandavas. Duryodhana is saying: every name on this list is at the level of the best on their side. Then the names. Yuyudhana comes first. He is the personal student of Arjuna — learned the weapons from Arjuna directly. Even when Krishna later gave Duryodhana a great army called the Narayani sena, Yuyudhana stayed loyal to Arjuna and fought on the Pandava side. Duryodhana puts him at the head of the list so Drona feels it: your beloved Arjuna has trained someone who is now standing against you. Virata is the king who sheltered the Pandavas during their year of disguise. Drupada is Drona's old enemy — they had been friends as boys, then Drupada humiliated Drona when he came asking for help, and Drona later split Drupada's kingdom in half through Arjuna. Drupada is the father of Dhrishtadyumna. So Duryodhana names Yuyudhana to remind Drona of Arjuna's loyalty trained somewhere else, names Virata to remind Drona of the family that took the Pandavas in, and names Drupada to remind Drona of the enmity that started everything between them.

Context

where

Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Arjuna → Krishna

preceded by — BG 1.3

Duryodhana says: Teacher, look at this great army of the Pandavas, so skillfully arrayed by Drupada's son, your own student.

What's going on

Here stand heroes with mighty bows, each a match for Bhīma and Arjuna in battle: Yuyudhāna, Virāṭa, and Drupada the great chariot-warrior.

Sūtras through this verse (99)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

1.1Means and end set out as one paired axis.───→here1.4───→2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleapproach

───→here1.4───→2.12Every soul named here is a real distinct self.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)approach

───→here1.4───→2.47Hold no mine-ness on body or on fruit.

show all 99

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaapproach · other

───→here1.4───→2.18Image perishes, source endures

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeapproach

───→here1.4───→2.18The mirror breaks but the sun is unhurt.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesapproach

───→here1.4───→2.23Even great gods are unequal in their glory.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionapproach

───→here1.4───→2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksapproach

───→here1.4───→2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadapproach

───→here1.4───→2.23Nāradīya names what reason cannot prove.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsapproach

───→here1.4───→2.39The two paths name one practice, one fruit.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeapproach

───→here1.4───→2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do aloneapproach

───→here1.4───→2.23Without worship of Hari no one ever crosses.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotapproach

───→here1.4───→2.13Self-survival is settled by śruti, not by reason.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here1.4───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here1.4───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actapproach

───→here1.4───→2.47Only a human body can do new action.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here1.4───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

───→here1.4───→2.45Rise above the modes, said in chapter two.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipapproach

───→here1.4───→2.31A warrior's own duty is the war he faces.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterapproach

───→here1.4───→2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingapproach

───→here1.4───→2.14Bear pleasure and pain as a passing season.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here1.4───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here1.4───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here1.4───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

1.1Dialectical chain present from line one.───→here1.4───→2.39Nanu… tatrāha: one pair, named.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

1.2Same form repeats on the next verse.───→here1.4───→2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathapproach · v2

───→here1.4───→2.47Right to action

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourapproach · v2

───→here1.4───→2.13Bodies pass, the dehī does not

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterapproach · v2

───→here1.4───→1.29The body fails

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here1.4───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here1.4───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesapproach · v2

───→here1.4───→2.41Single-pointed buddhi

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here1.4───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here1.4───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictapproach · other

───→here1.4───→1.31Bad omens

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthaapproach · other

───→here1.4───→2.10Thesis flat

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseaseapproach

───→here1.4───→2.10Sorrow and delusion are the seed of saṁsāra.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downapproach

───→here1.4───→2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youapproach

───→here1.4───→2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentapproach

───→here1.4───→2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here1.4───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here1.4───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimapproach

───→here1.4───→2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here1.4───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asiapproach

───→here1.4───→2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledapproach

───→here1.4───→2.47Primary fitness needs ripened conditions.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here1.4───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyapproach

───→here1.4───→2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here1.4───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiapproach

───→here1.4───→2.47Action stays; the wish for fruit goes.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentapproach

───→here1.4───→2.39Wisdom section wound up here.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideapproach

───→here1.4───→2.13Same I as a child is now in this body.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by verseapproach

───→here1.4───→2.12Plurals block monistic absorption.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedapproach

───→here1.4───→2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaapproach

───→here1.4───→2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here1.4───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

───→here1.4───→2.13Pratyabhijñā backed by śruti citation.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

───→here1.4───→2.13Two objections, three pādas glossed.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availableapproach

───→here1.4───→2.13Recognition is literal across bodies.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥapproach

───→here1.4───→2.11Madhva first speaks, Jayatīrtha supplies.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

1.1Discrimination overrun by grief and confusion.───→here1.4───→2.1Pity and despair treated as guests, not host.

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanaapproach · other

───→here1.4───→2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here1.4───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaapproach

───→here1.4───→1.28Arjuna at the edge: 'Drishtvemam svajanam Krishna yuyutsum samupasthitam, sidant

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipapproach

───→here1.4───→2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handapproach

───→here1.4───→2.47Middle finger. Nishkama karma plus the failure-gym. 'Karmany evadhikaras te, ma

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralapproach

───→here1.4───→2.13The memorial-register anchor. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, ta

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101approach

───→here1.4───→2.13Reincarnation pillar. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha deha

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here1.4───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netiapproach

───→here1.4───→2.13Body changes. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara.' Gaurav opens the

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

───→here1.4───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsapproach

───→here1.4───→2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landapproach

───→here1.4───→2.39Pure mind for knowing, impure mind for acting.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingapproach

───→here1.4───→2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherapproach

───→here1.4───→2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here1.4───→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.───→here1.4───→11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesbetween

1.1See Viṭṭhaleśa's hand for chapter one's gloss.───→here1.4───→1.31The despondency catalogue goes to Viṭṭhaleśa.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketapproach

───→here1.4───→2.10The teaching opens at the carama-bracket.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here1.4───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorapproach

───→here1.4───→2.12Plurals refute the unitary-self read.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionapproach

───→here1.4───→2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationapproach

───→here1.4───→2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefapproach

───→here1.4───→2.10Krishna smiles before the first mā-śucaḥ.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here1.4───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesapproach

───→here1.4───→2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderapproach

───→here1.4───→2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personapproach

───→here1.4───→2.12The eternal among the eternal, conscious among the conscious.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordapproach

───→here1.4───→2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridapproach

───→here1.4───→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.───→here1.4───→2.7I am sunk in pity; ask, do not order.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

1.1The first epithet: supremely compassionate.───→here1.4───→4.7When right wanes, I take a body.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingapproach

───→here1.4───→2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here1.4───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerapproach

───→here1.4───→2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessapproach

───→here1.4───→2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesapproach

───→here1.4───→2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)approach

───→here1.4───→2.10Bracket opens here.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)approach

───→here1.4───→2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 15 occurrences)

युधि yudh — to fight (verbal root); battle · locative feminine singular noun

show all 13

महा mahat ×2 — great, large; the cosmic intellect (mahattattva) · compound
च ca ×2 — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
अत्र atra — here, in this place
शूराः śūra — hero, brave · nominative masculine plural noun
इष्वासाः iṣvāsa — archer ('arrow-shooter', iṣu + āsa) · nominative masculine plural noun
भीम bhīma — Bhīma (the second Pāṇḍava); also: terrible · compound
अर्जुन arjuna — Arjuna (the third Pāṇḍava); also: white, bright · compound
समाः sama — equal, same, even-minded · nominative masculine plural noun
युयुधानः yuyudhāna — Yuyudhāna (a Pāṇḍava ally; also called Sātyaki) · nominative masculine singular noun · also at 1.5, 1.6
विराटः virāṭa — Virāṭa (king who sheltered the Pāṇḍavas in exile) · nominative masculine singular noun
द्रुपदः drupada — Drupada (king of Pāñcāla, father of Draupadī) · nominative masculine singular noun
रथः ratha — chariot · nominative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01Why does Duryodhana catalogue the enemy's heroes rather than dismiss them — what does this choice of sustained attention reveal about the psychology of arrogance and its hidden fear?
02The verse sets Bhīma and Arjuna as the standard of comparison: what does it mean for a tradition to canonize a benchmark pair — and who sets such a standard in your own field of action?

show all 7

03Madhusūdana notes these warriors rout enemies from distance before close combat begins (mahāiṣvāsāḥ as long-range supremacy): where in your life does the decisive contest happen at range, before any direct confrontation?
04If each warrior listed here is a distinct jīva (individual soul) with unique dharma and unique śakti — what does the verse suggest about the irreducibility of individual excellence within a collective force?
05The verse names Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki) first among the enumerated heroes, though he is less celebrated than Arjuna or Bhīma: what principle of recognition is at work when the less-famous warrior is named before the famous one?
06Rāmānuja sees Kṛṣṇa's vātsalya (parental tenderness) as the hidden motor of the entire scene — how does the recognition of divine tenderness beneath apparent martial spectacle change what the verse is about?
07The smṛti definition cited by Madhusūdana requires skill in both śastra (weapon) and śāstra (scriptural knowledge) for the title mahāratha: what is the contemporary equivalent of requiring both technical mastery and wisdom for the highest rank?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you catch yourself cataloguing rivals — counting their advantages, naming their strengths — pause and ask: who is the one doing the counting? The enumeration of Duryodhana is the vyavahārika (conventional) mind at work, mistaking nāmarūpa (name-and-form) for ultimate reality. Practice: in any competitive moment, identify the awareness behind the comparing mind — that awareness is the ātman, unchanged by any catalogue of others' excellence.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Rāmānuja sees Kṛṣṇa governing every antarbāhya-karaṇa (inner and outer faculty) of every warrior in this verse. The everyday application: when you encounter someone whose skill or strength exceeds yours, recognize that their excellence is not a threat but an expression of the same Lord you serve. Dedicate your own work — at its full quality — as kainkarya (loving service), and meet their excellence with wonder rather than fear.

show all 6

Dvaita

Madhva's insistence that each jīva (individual soul) is eternally distinct means no one else's achievement diminishes yours — you are not in competition with Bhīma and Arjuna but on your own paratantra (dependent) path, given a specific capacity by Hari. The everyday discipline: refuse both false equality ('I am as good as anyone') and false diminishment ('I am nothing beside them'); instead identify the specific śakti (capacity) Hari placed in you and deploy it with precision.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha reads even Duryodhana's anxiety as Kṛṣṇa's prasāda — the grace that initiates awakening. The everyday application: when you feel genuinely outmatched — when you survey a field and recognize your bala (force) is aparyāpta (insufficient) — do not suppress the recognition. Sit with it. Vallabha's Puṣṭi-mārga teaching is that the moment of honest inadequacy, surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, becomes the entry point of grace.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara defines the mahā-iṣvāsa (great bowman) as one whose bow is formidable enough to scatter the enemy before engagement — a long-range weapon of preparation. The bhakti application: invest deeply in your preparation, in the quality of your tool, before you arrive at the moment of direct contest. Śrīdhara's śaurya (valor) is always paired with kṣātradharma (the disciplined ethic of one's function) — excellence without dharma is archery without aim.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's smṛti citation demands both śastra (weapon / technical skill) and śāstra (scripture / wisdom) for the title mahāratha. The synthesis teaching: in any serious undertaking, identify where you have developed only one of the two — the craftsman who has śastra but no śāstra grows brittle under novel pressure; the scholar with śāstra but no śastra cannot land the work in the world. True mahāratha-hood requires both, and Kṛṣṇa-bhakti provides the integrating fire that makes the two into one capacity rather than two competing demands.

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 4: Arjuna to Krishna — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga