Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 1, Verse 29
सीदन्ति मम गात्राणि मुखं च परिशुष्यति।
वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते।।
वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते।।
sīdanti mama gātrāṇi mukhaṁ ca pariśuṣyati
vepathuś ca śarīre me roma-harṣaś ca jāyate
also searched as "sidanti mama gatrani mukham cha parishushyati"
Translation
My limbs have weakened, my mouth has become parched, my body is trembling, and my hairs are standing on end.
Vāṇi's rendering
My limbs give way, my mouth is dry, my body trembles, my hair stands on end.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सीदन्तिsīdanti | sink, give way, fail |
| ममmama | my |
| गात्राणिgātrāṇi | limbs, the parts of the body |
| मुखम्mukham | mouth |
| चca | and |
| परिशुष्यतिpariśuṣyati | dries up completely, goes parched |
| वेपथुःvepathuḥ | trembling, a shaking (appears as vepathuś before ca) |
| चca | and |
| शरीरेśarīre | in the body |
| मेme | of me, mine |
| रोमहर्षःroma-harṣaḥ | bristling of the body-hair (appears as roma-harṣaś before ca) |
| चca | and |
| जायतेjāyate | arises, is born |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 Verse 29 mean?
Arjuna reports his own body failing him at the edge of battle — limbs sinking, mouth gone dry, a tremor running through him, hair standing up. He is not describing cowardice. He is describing what happens to a person when the thing he must do and the thing he loves stand on the same field.
What does 'sidanti mama gatrani' mean in the Gita?
Sīdanti is the verb of sinking — a boat settling, a body going down. Arjuna's limbs are not merely weak; they are subsiding under him. The Gītā gives this its own line before any teaching begins, because Krishna will speak to a man in exactly this state, not to one who has already recovered.
Why does the Gita describe Arjuna's physical symptoms in such detail?
Because grief is not an idea first. It arrives in the throat and the knees. By naming four plain bodily signs, the Gītā refuses to treat Arjuna's crisis as abstract philosophy — and refuses to treat yours as weakness. What your body does under pressure is admitted into the text without apology.
Is it wrong to feel this kind of fear before doing something difficult?
The strongest man in the epic feels it, and Krishna never mocks him for it. Trembling is not a verdict on your choice. It is what a living creature does when the stakes are real. The question the Gītā moves toward is not whether you shake, but whether you stay standing.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
This is the body speaking before the mind has found its argument. Arjuna is the greatest archer alive, and his hands will not hold. Notice what the Gītā does with this: it records it. Four symptoms, plainly listed, no shame attached, no rebuke from Krishna when he finally answers. The collapse is admitted into scripture as fact, not as disgrace. You have known this — the dry mouth before the conversation you cannot avoid, the legs that go loose. It is not a sign you have chosen wrongly. It is the sign that something real is being asked of you, and your body knew first.