Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 1, Verse 30
गाण्डीवं स्रंसते हस्तात्त्वक्चैव परिदह्यते।
न च शक्नोम्यवस्थातुं भ्रमतीव च मे मनः।।
न च शक्नोम्यवस्थातुं भ्रमतीव च मे मनः।।
gāṇḍīvaṁ sraṁsate hastāt tvak caiva paridahyate
na ca śaknomy avasthātuṁ bhramatīva ca me manaḥ
also searched as "gandivam sramsate hastat tvak chaiva paridahyate"
Translation
The bow Gandiva slips from my hand and my skin is burning. I can no longer stand. My mind seems to be reeling.
Vāṇi's rendering
The bow slips from my hand, my skin burns. I cannot stand; my mind is reeling.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| गाण्डीवम्gāṇḍīvaṁ | Gāṇḍīva, Arjuna's great bow |
| स्रंसतेsraṁsate | slips, slides away |
| हस्तात्hastāt | from the hand |
| त्वक्tvak | the skin |
| चca | and |
| एवeva | indeed (joined as caiva) |
| परिदह्यतेparidahyate | burns all over |
| नna | not |
| चca | and |
| शक्नोमिśaknomi | I am able |
| अवस्थातुम्avasthātuṁ | to stand, to hold my ground |
| भ्रमतिbhramati | wanders, reels |
| इवiva | as if (joined as bhramatīva) |
| चca | and |
| मेme | my |
| मनःmanaḥ | mind |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 Verse 30 mean?
Arjuna reports his own breakdown. Gāṇḍīva, the bow he has never dropped, slips from his hand; his skin burns, his legs will not hold him, his mind spins. He is not describing an argument against war. He is describing what fear does to a body before the mind has found any words for it.
What does gandivam sramsate hastat mean?
It means the bow Gāṇḍīva is sliding out of his grip. That bow was his identity — the greatest archer's greatest weapon. When grief arrives, the first thing it loosens is not your courage but your hold on the one thing you were always certain you could do.
Why does the Gita describe physical symptoms of fear in such detail?
Because the Gītā refuses to begin with philosophy. Trembling, dry mouth, burning skin, a reeling mind — these are set down plainly, without shame and without correction. Krishna lets Arjuna finish. Nothing true can be taught to someone who has not first been permitted to say what is actually happening to him.
Is it wrong to feel unable to stand when facing something hard?
Arjuna is the finest warrior alive and he cannot stand. The Gītā does not call this weakness; it calls it the starting point. What follows is seven hundred verses spoken to a man on the floor of his chariot. You are allowed to be there. You are not asked to stay.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
The bow has a name. Gāṇḍīva — unbreakable, the weapon that made Arjuna Arjuna — and it is sliding from his fingers before a single arrow flies. Krishna has not spoken yet. What speaks is the body: skin on fire, legs gone, the mind turning like a wheel off its axle. Arjuna does not decide to collapse; he reports it, the way you report weather. Grief works this way — it takes the thing you are best at and loosens your grip on it. The Gītā lets him say all of it, uncorrected. Say yours too, before you ask for the answer.