A story · Mahabharata — Stories

Arjuna Lays Down His Bow

Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva 25

The story · English

The blind king Dhritarashtra asked Sanjaya to describe what his sons and the Pandavas were doing on the sacred plain of Kurukshetra. Sanjaya reported that Duryodhana approached his teacher, Drona, and pointed out the vast army assembled by the Pandavas, led by Dhrishtadyumna. He named the brave bowmen on their side who were equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna, including Yuyudhana, Virata, and Drupada. Duryodhana then listed his own leaders, such as Bhishma, Karna, Kripa, and Aswatthaman, noting that many heroic warriors were prepared to die for his sake. He said his own army, protected by Bhishma, was insufficient, while the Pandava force, protected by Bhima, was sufficient, so he told his commanders to take their positions at the entrances of their divisions and focus all their efforts on protecting Bhishma.

The venerable Bhishma blew his conch with a roar like a lion, sparking a loud uproar of drums, cymbals, and horns. In response, Krishna and Arjuna, stationed on a great car with white steeds, blew their celestial conches, Panchajanya and Devadatta. Bhima blew the huge conch called Paundra, and King Yudhishthira blew Anantavijaya. Nakula and Sahadeva, along with other warriors like Sikhandin and Drupada, also sounded their conches. The blare reverberated through the air and the earth, rending the hearts of the Dhartarashtras. Arjuna then raised his bow just as the missiles had begun to fly, and asked Krishna to place the car between the two armies so he could observe those he would have to fight.

Krishna placed the car in view of Bhishma, Drona, and the kings of the earth, telling Arjuna to behold the assembled Kurus. Looking out, Arjuna saw his sires, grandsons, friends, and kinsmen in both armies. Overcome by pity and despondency, Arjuna told Krishna that his limbs felt languid, his mouth grew dry, and his body trembled. He felt his skin burn and his bow, Gandiva, slip from his hand. He told Krishna that he did not desire victory, sovereignty, or pleasure, for those for whom these things are desired—his teachers, grandfathers, and kinsmen—were standing there ready to die. He felt that the omens were adverse and that his mind was wandering in grief.

Arjuna argued that slaying his own kinsmen would bring sin upon them, even if the Dhartarashtras were regarded as foes. He questioned how they could be happy by killing their own family. He worried that the destruction of a race would lead to the loss of eternal customs, causing the women of the family to become corrupt and leading to the intermingling of castes. This intermingling, he believed, would lead both the destroyer and the race to hell, and the ancestors would fall as their rites of pinda and water ceased. Arjuna declared that it would be better for him to be killed unarmed by the sons of Dhritarashtra than to commit such a great sin for the sake of sovereignty. He cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down.

Krishna looked at the grieving Arjuna and asked why this despondency had come upon him at such a crisis. He told Arjuna that such weakness was unbecoming of a noble birth and would lead to infamy. Arjuna replied that he could not fight against Bhishma and Drona, who were deserving of worship. He argued that it would be better to live on alms than to enjoy pleasures bloodstained by the slaughter of his teachers. Confused about his duty and unsettled by compassion, Arjuna admitted he did not know what was truly good for him. He told Krishna that he was now his disciple and begged for instruction, as nothing else could dispel his grief. Then he told Krishna, 'I will not fight,' and fell silent.

Krishna told Arjuna that he was mourning those who did not deserve mourning, for the truly wise grieve neither for the living nor the dead. He explained that the soul is eternal and indestructible, and that while the physical body passes through childhood, youth, and old age, the soul simply acquires a new body. He described the soul as something that cannot be cut by weapons, burned by fire, drenched by water, or wasted by wind. Just as a person casts off worn-out clothes for new ones, the soul casts off worn-out bodies. Krishna told Arjuna that since the soul neither kills nor is killed, he should not mourn for the imperishable.

Krishna reminded Arjuna of his duties as a Kshatriya, stating that there is nothing better for a warrior than a fair fight. He warned that if Arjuna abandoned this just battle, he would incur sin and eternal infamy, which is worse than death for a respected man. His enemies would mock his prowess, and he would be seen as a coward. Krishna told him to be equal in victory and defeat, and to fight for the sake of the battle itself. He then introduced the system of Yoga, explaining that it allows a person to cast off the bonds of action and find a state of mind consisting of firm devotion to emancipation.

Krishna explained that those who are attached to worldly pleasures are deluded by the flowery talk of the ignorant. He said the Vedas were concerned with three qualities, religion, profit and pleasure, and urged Arjuna to be free from all three, remaining patient and self-possessed. He taught that one's concern should be with the work itself, not with the fruit of that work. To be the same in success or failure is what Krishna called Yoga. He stated that those who work only for the sake of results are miserable, while those who practice devotion are freed from the obligations of repeated birth. When the mind crosses the maze of delusion, it becomes indifferent to what is heard; when it is firmly fixed on contemplation, devotion is attained.

Arjuna asked how a person of steady mind speaks, sits, and moves. Krishna replied that a steady mind belongs to one who has cast off all heart-desires and is pleased within the self. Such a person is not agitated by calamities, is free from attachment and fear, and withdraws the senses from their objects like a tortoise withdraws its limbs. He explained that attachment to objects leads to wrath, and wrath leads to a loss of discrimination and memory, eventually ruining a person. However, a self-restrained man who controls his senses attains a peace of mind that annihilates all miseries.

Krishna concluded by describing the restrained man as one who is awake when other creatures sleep and who remains unchanged even when objects of desire enter him, just as the ocean remains unchanged by the rivers that flow into it. He stated that the man who moves about without craving, pride, or affection attains a peace of mind known as the divine state. He told Arjuna that by abiding in this state, one is never deluded and, upon death, obtains absorption into the Supreme Self.

कथा · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Amva and Sikhandin · Mahabharata, Udyoga Parva 178
• Next: Bhishma on the Bed of Arrows · Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva 120
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