Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 1, Verse 24
संजय उवाच
एवमुक्तो हृषीकेशो गुडाकेशेन भारत।
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये स्थापयित्वा रथोत्तमम्।।
एवमुक्तो हृषीकेशो गुडाकेशेन भारत।
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये स्थापयित्वा रथोत्तमम्।।
sañjaya uvāca
evam ukto hṛṣīkeśo guḍākeśena bhārata
senayor ubhayor madhye sthāpayitvā rathottamam
also searched as "evam ukto hrishikesho gudakeshena bharata"
Translation
Sanjaya said: Thus addressed by Arjuna, O Bharata, Sri Krishna stationed the best of chariots between the two armies.
Vāṇi's rendering
So asked, Krishna drew that finest of chariots to a halt between the two armies.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| संजयःsañjayaḥ | Sanjaya |
| उवाचuvāca | said |
| एवम्evam | thus, in this way |
| उक्तःuktaḥ | spoken to, addressed (sandhi: ukto before hṛṣīkeśo) |
| हृषीकेशःhṛṣīkeśaḥ | Krishna, master of the senses (sandhi: hṛṣīkeśo) |
| गुडाकेशेनguḍākeśena | by Arjuna, who has conquered sleep |
| भारतbhārata | O descendant of Bharata — Sanjaya addressing Dhṛtarāṣṭra |
| सेनयोःsenayoḥ | of the armies (sandhi: senayor) |
| उभयोःubhayoḥ | of both (sandhi: ubhayor) |
| मध्येmadhye | in the middle |
| स्थापयित्वाsthāpayitvā | having brought to a stand, having stationed |
| रथोत्तमम्ratha-uttamam | the finest of chariots |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 Verse 24 mean?
Arjuna has asked to be driven between the armies, and Krishna does it — without comment, without warning. He brings the chariot to a halt in the open ground where both sides are visible at once. The request is granted exactly as made. What Arjuna will see from that spot is his own doing.
What is the meaning of evam ukto hrishikesho gudakeshena bharata?
Sanjaya names both men by what they have mastered. Hṛṣīkeśa rules the senses; Guḍākeśa has conquered sleep. Yet the one who rules the senses takes the order, and the one who conquered sleep is about to lose his nerve. Mastery of one thing is no guarantee against collapse in another.
Why does Krishna stop the chariot between the two armies?
Because Arjuna asked him to. Krishna as charioteer does not overrule the man he serves; he takes him precisely where he wanted to go. Standing between means standing outside the shelter of a side. From there nothing is hidden — and nothing can be called simply theirs.
Why is Krishna called Hrishikesha in this verse?
Hṛṣīkeśa means the one who commands the senses. Sanjaya uses it at the moment Krishna is about to fill Arjuna's eyes with faces he loves. The sight is coming through the senses, and the one arranging that sight is their lord. Nothing Arjuna is about to feel is accidental.
Themes in this verse
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Commentary
Arjuna asks; Krishna obeys. Notice the two names Sanjaya chooses in one breath — the master of the senses, and the one who conquered sleep. The lord of everything is holding the reins for a man who cannot decide, and he does not argue. He drives. He halts the chariot exactly where he was asked to halt: between, in the open, belonging to neither side. Arjuna wanted to see. Krishna gives him the whole sight, knowing it will undo him. When you ask honestly to see your situation, you are not spared the seeing. You are driven into the middle of it.