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Chapter2- Sloka 9

sañjaya uvāca 

evam uktvā hṛṣīkeśaṃ guḍakeśaḥ paraṇtapa | 

na yotsyāmi iti govindam uktvā tūṣṇīṃ babhūva ha || 9 || 

(2.9)

evam uktvā- Having spoken thus; hṣīkeśam- to Kṛṣṇa who is hṛṣīkeśa; paraṇtapaḥ- the scorcher of enemy; guḍākeśaḥ- Arjuna; govindaṃ uktvā- spoke to Govinda; iti- thus; (aham) na yotsyāmi- (I) will not fight; tūṣṇīmbabhūva- and became silent; ha- Alas!

Purport

On hearing Sañjaya's narration about what Arjuna spoke, Dhṛtarāṣra questioned, 'After speaking in this manner, what did Arjuna do?' Addressing this question, Sañjaya said, "After having spoken thus to Hṣīkeśa, Arjuna the scorcher of enemies said, 'O Govinda! I will not fight' and became silent."

The 'ha' at the end of the śloka convey's Sañjaya's disappointment with Arjuna's behaviour.

hṣīkeśa The derivation for the term hṣīka is hṣyanti, harṣayantīti vā hŗṣīkāni. Those experiencing delight or those causing the experience of delight (to the jīva) are called hṣīkas. Hṣīkas represent the senses. Since Kṛṣṇa is the Īśa- controller of all these senses, HE is called Hṣīkeśa.

In the earlier ślokas, it was told that Arjuna was unable to find a way to overcome his grief which was drying up his senses and took refuge in Hṣīkeśa (master of senses). Sañjaya aptly addressed Bhagawān Sri Kṛṣṇa as Hṣīkeśa in this śloka and this conveyed to Dhṛtarāṣra that Arjuna's grief was surely going to be wiped off. The owner of a property would definitely not remain passive if his property was undergoing damage. Similarly Hṣīkeśa who is the owner of all the senses, would surely safeguard HIS own property (Arjuna's senses) which were drying up. Hṣīkeśa (Kṛṣṇa) alone could subdue Arjuna's senses so that he could comprehend the precious knowledge that Kṛṣṇa was going to impart to him.

guḍākeśaḥ nidrālasye gudākā syāt Sleep and laziness are called guḍāka. Arjuna regulated and subdued both of them and was thus called Guḍākeśa. Alternatively, one with thick hair tied together is also called Guḍākeśa. Sleep and laziness are the actions driven by tamo gua, resulting in grief and delusion. One who has the ability to control them remains untouched by grief and delusion. By addressing Arjuna as Guḍākeśa in this śloka, Sañjaya pointed out that it was not expected of him to be in such a grief stricken and deluded state.

paraṇtapaḥ One who is very fierce in a war and makes the enemy suffer is called Paratapa.

Sañjaya addressed Arjuna as Parantapa in this śloka to point out that it was not acceptable for Arjuna who was Parantapa to be deluded and grief stricken in this manner and to declare that he shall not fight. 

na *yotsyāmi iti govindam (I will not fight, said Arjuna to Govinda) 

govindam The term 'go' means vāk or speech. 'vinda' comes from the root verb 'vid' meaning 'to know'.

Since Paramapurua Kṛṣṇa alone possessed the kind of speech that could drive away Arjuna's grief, HE was

addressed as Govinda by Sañjaya in this context. In Tiruvāimozhi 9.1.10 Nammālwār says maṇṇin pāram

nīkkuthaRkē vaḍamaturai ppiRandāṇ (HE descended in Uttara Mathura, only to free the earth of its

burden). The term 'go' also means the earth and 'vinda' also means 'the lord / protector'. Since this Govinda

descended with the sole purpose of relieving the earth of its burden, HE would surely not entertain Arjuna's proposal to step back from this war. This was another point Sañjaya wanted to convey by addressing

Bhagawān as Govinda here.

ha The 'ha' in this śloka shows Sañjaya's disappointment with Arjuna. Instead of assisting Paramapuruṣa in his purpose of descent to the earth i.e reducing the burden of the earth, Arjuna was choosing to remain inactive. 

Note: *A paṭha bhedam for 'na yotsyāmi iti' exists and it is 'na yotsya iti'. Both are correct. A paṭha bhedam is a different usage of the original text.


Summary:

In this śloka and the previous ones, we see that due to misplaced compassion and affection, Arjuna lost his composure, perceived his prime duty as a Kṣatriya (fighting the war) to be unrighteous and took refuge in Kṛṣṇa to learn what the correct course of action was. Unable to bear the grief and confusion anymore, Arjuna ended up declaring helplessly that he would not be able to fight. Knowing well that Arjuna's confusion and grief would not go until he received knowledge about the real nature of the soul and the knowledge that fighting the war without any desire on the outcome was the upāyam (means) through which he could know the soul. Paramapuruṣa (Bhagawān himself) will henceforth start explaining the science of the soul through the medium of the Bhagawad Gītā to Arjuna.

Q: When Kṛṣṇa was only asked, 'yat śrēya iti niścitaṃ tat me brūhi?', why did HE preach the confidential, more confidential and the most confidential karma yoga, jñāna yoga and bhakti yoga respectively to Arjuna? nāpṣṭaḥ kasyachit brūyāt- Manu Smti 2.110 (Unless asked, nothing should be told). When scripture says so, can these confidential meanings so ordinarily be told upon simply asking yacchrēyaḥ, especially in this scenario where Kṛṣṇa was instructing Arjuna to fight the war (yuddhasva)? 

A: Since Arjuna firmly believed in Bhagawān and was in close proximity to Bhagawān who was always willing to guide him and help him, it does not make sense to assume that Arjuna's enquiry about his well being was confined to the war alone. It is therefore certain that Arjuna was enquiring about his ultimate well being.

Sri Ramanuja Center for Advanced Vedic Studies- Brindavan-UP

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