Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 1
सञ्जय उवाच
तं तथा कृपयाऽविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकुलेक्षणम्।
विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदनः।।
तं तथा कृपयाऽविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकुलेक्षणम्।
विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदनः।।
sañjaya uvāca
taṁ tathā kṛpayāviṣṭamaśru pūrṇākulekṣaṇam
viṣīdantamidaṁ vākyam uvāca madhusūdanaḥ
also searched as "tam tatha kripayavishtamashru purnakulekshanam"
Translation
Sanjaya said: To him, who was overcome with pity, whose eyes were wet with tears, who was sorrow-stricken and bore a bewildered look, Sri Krishna spoke as follows:
Vāṇi's rendering
Seeing Arjuna drowning in pity, eyes brimming with tears, Krishna began to speak.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सञ्जयsañjaya | Sanjaya, the one narrating the field to the blind king |
| उवाचuvāca | said |
| तम्taṁ | to him — to Arjuna |
| तथाtathā | in that state, just so |
| कृपयाkṛpayā | by pity, by tenderness (joins with the next word as kṛpayāviṣṭam) |
| आविष्टम्āviṣṭam | entered into, taken over, possessed |
| अश्रुaśru | tears |
| पूर्णाकुलेक्षणम्pūrṇākulekṣaṇam | whose eyes were brimming and stricken — pūrṇa (full) plus ākula (agitated) plus īkṣaṇam (eyes), fused by sandhi |
| विषीदन्तम्viṣīdantam | sinking, sagging under sorrow |
| इदम्idaṁ | this |
| वाक्यम्vākyam | speech, these words |
| उवाचuvāca | spoke |
| मधुसूदनःmadhusūdanaḥ | Krishna, called here the slayer of the demon Madhu |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 1 mean?
It is the pause before the teaching. Sanjaya describes Arjuna exactly as he is — overtaken by pity, eyes full, body sinking — and only then does Krishna open his mouth. The verse establishes that the Gītā is spoken to a man in pieces, not to a student who has already composed himself.
What is the meaning of tam tatha kripayavishtam?
Kṛpayā āviṣṭam means pity has entered him and taken the house. Arjuna is not choosing compassion; compassion is driving. Sanjaya's phrasing is precise — the feeling is in charge, and the man is being moved by it. That is the exact condition Krishna will address.
Why is Krishna called Madhusudana in this verse?
Madhusūdana is the destroyer of the demon Madhu — a name of force, placed beside a weeping man. The contrast is deliberate. What Krishna now confronts is not an enemy outside but a paralysis inside Arjuna, and that too is something he has come to end.
Why does the Gita describe Arjuna's tears in such detail?
Because the grief is not skipped over. Three descriptions stack up — overcome, brimming, sinking — before a single word of teaching arrives. Nothing here shames the tears. Whatever you are carrying does not disqualify you from being spoken to; it is the reason the speaking begins.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Sanjaya spends a whole verse on Arjuna's face before Krishna says anything. The pity, the wet eyes, the sinking — all of it is noticed, none of it is corrected. Krishna waits. He does not interrupt the breakdown to fix it; he lets it finish, and then begins. Madhusūdana, the name says — slayer of the demon Madhu — and what he faces now is a man undone by tenderness. The teaching starts on the far side of collapse, not before it. If you are waiting to be composed before you can be spoken to, you have the order wrong. Be seen first. The words come to the one already weeping.