The Bhagavad Gita · A reading companion
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1Arjuna Vishada Yoga
Why Arjuna refuses to fight
Vedika editorial guide · 47 verses in the chapter · Selected passages below
Chapter 1 summary
Chapter 1 introduces Arjuna’s moral crisis at Kurukshetra. Seeing relatives and teachers in the opposing army, he questions whether victory can justify their deaths. His distress opens the dialogue about responsibility that the rest of the Bhagavad Gita explores.
Reading the chapter
Follow these passages in order. The notes are Vedika’s synthesis; they are not a word-for-word translation or a substitute for a commentary.
Bhagavad Gita 1.1–20
The question that opens the text
Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya about the two armies. The narration moves through their commanders and the sounding of conches. Read this opening as the setting of a conversation inside the Mahabharata, rather than as a teaching spoken entirely by Krishna.
Bhagavad Gita 1.21–35
An army becomes a family
Arjuna asks Krishna to place the chariot between the armies. Krishna points out the assembled Kurus in verse 1.25. Arjuna then sees the people he knows, describes his bodily distress and questions the value of a kingdom purchased through their deaths.
Bhagavad Gita 1.36–47
A crisis without an easy answer
Arjuna argues that the destruction of families would damage the social and religious life that survives them. The chapter ends with his refusal to fight. These are Arjuna’s arguments within the dialogue; they should not automatically be treated as the text’s final answer.
Selected Sanskrit verses & English meaning
Selections from Vedika’s published chapter collection. This page does not reproduce all the chapter’s verses. English renderings are those stored in that collection; a named translator is not recorded there.
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच — धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः । मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ॥
dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ / māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya
Dhritarashtra spoke: O Sanjaya, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do when they assembled on the holy field of Kurukshetra, eager to fight?
सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिशुष्यति । वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते ॥
sīdanti mama gātrāṇi mukhaṃ ca pariśuṣyati / vepathuś ca śarīre me roma-harṣaś ca jāyate
My limbs fail and my mouth is parched. My body quivers and my hair stands on end.
Does Krishna speak in Chapter 1?
Yes. In 1.25 Krishna tells Arjuna to look at the assembled Kurus. His extended instruction begins in Chapter 2. Calling Krishna completely silent in Chapter 1 overlooks that verse.
Sources & reading across traditions
The primary text is Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 1, within the Mahabharata. Verse ranges above identify the passages behind the reading notes. Philosophical interpretations differ among traditions.
Read Chapter 1 with Swami Mukundananda’s commentary ↗An attributed devotional commentary for comparison; not the credited source of Vedika’s English renderings.