एतच्छ्रुत्वा वचनं केशवस्य कृताञ्जलिर्वेपमानः किरीटी। नमस्कृत्वा भूय एवाह कृष्णं सगद्गदं भीतभीतः प्रणम्य ॥
etacchrutvā vacanaṃ keśavasya kṛtāñjalirvepamānaḥ kirīṭī| namaskṛtvā bhūya evāha kṛṣṇaṃ sagadgadaṃ bhītabhītaḥ praṇamya ||
Trembling, hands folded, crown on head, voice choked — Arjuna bows again and again and speaks to Kṛṣṇa!
Word by word (3)
- etac chrutvā vacanaṃ keśavasya kṛtāñjaliḥ vepamaānaḥ kirīṭī
- — Having heard this speech of Keśava, the crowned one (Arjuna) with joined palms, trembling · Keśava = Krishna (slayer of the demon Keśin — an epithet that emphasizes Krishna's protective power). Etac chrutvā = having heard this (chrutvā = gerund of √śru = to hear; the hearing of kālo'smi). Kṛtāñjaliḥ = with joined palms (kṛta = done, made + añjali = cupped palms held together in reverence — the añjalī-mudrā of devotion). Vepamaānaḥ = trembling (from √vip = to tremble; same root as English 'vibrate'). Kirīṭī = the crowned/diademed one = Arjuna (kirīṭa = crown/diadem — Arjuna's royal epithet). The sequence kṛtāñjaliḥ + vepamaānaḥ = reverence AND trembling simultaneously — Arjuna is both devoted and overwhelmed.
- namaskṛtvā bhūya evāha kṛṣṇaṃ sa-gadgadaṃ bhīta-bhītaḥ praṇamya
- — having saluted, again spoke to Krishna with stammering voice, extremely frightened, bowing deeply · Namaskṛtvā = having saluted (namas + kṛ = to do; gerund). Bhūya eva = again (bhūyas = more, repeatedly; eva = emphatic). Sa-gadgadaṃ = with stammering voice (gadgada = stuttering, stammering — the choked voice caused by extreme emotion; when the āveśa = overwhelming feeling floods the throat, speech becomes gadgada). This is Shankaracharya's physiological note: 'when overpowered by fear or love, eyes fill with tears, throat is choked with phlegm, speech becomes stammering.' Bhīta-bhītaḥ = extremely frightened (doubled bhīta = very frightened; doubled adjective = superlative by reduplication). Praṇamya = having bowed deeply (pra + √nam = to bow deeply).
- sanjaya narration — speaker shift to arjuna V36 onwards
- — This is Sanjaya's narration — the structural bridge from Krishna's speech (V32-V34) to Arjuna's response (V36-V46) · V35 is the second Sanjaya-narration verse in this chapter (the first was V9-V14). Sanjaya serves as the theatrical stage-direction voice: he describes Arjuna's physical-emotional state after hearing the most shattering teaching in the Gita (kālo'smi). The gadgada (stammering) is the sāttvika-bhāva of devotional overwhelm — authentic bhakti's bodily expression when awe is too great for coherent speech. This prepares V36's Arjuna-speech: 'Sthāne hṛṣīkeśa tava prakīrtya' (Rightly so, O Hṛṣīkeśa — the universe rejoices in Your glory). The fear has converted to praise.
Sanjaya describes Arjuna's state after hearing kālo'smi: he trembles, joins his palms, bows deeply, and speaks to Krishna with a stammering, choked voice. He is still extremely frightened. This is the emotional preparation for Arjuna's next long speech (V36-V46) in which fear converts to praise.
A modern analogy
Like someone who has just been told a terrifying truth about the nature of reality — they still shake, they still struggle to speak clearly, but something in them has been fundamentally altered. The trembling is not weakness but the physical registration of having received the truth.
Sit with this: Arjuna speaks sa-gadgadam (with stammering voice) after hearing the most important teaching in the Gita. Have you ever received a truth so large that it left you literally speechless or inarticulate? What is the relationship between overwhelming truth and the loss of smooth speech?
V35 is the second major Sanjaya-narration bridge in Ch.11 (after V9-V14). Both serve the same structural function: they provide the theatrical description of Arjuna's physical-emotional state at a turning point. V9-V14 described Arjuna's state before he spoke (V15 onwards) — at the beginning of his vision-response. V35 describes his state after hearing kālo'smi — at the beginning of his praise-response (V36 onwards). The gadgada (stammering) is the key marker: it signals that Arjuna is no longer in control of his expression. The bhīta-bhītaḥ (extremely frightened) coexists with kṛtāñjali (joined palms of devotion) = bhakti and bhaya (fear and devotion) are simultaneous. V35 is the hinge between the cosmic-terror arc (V20-V34) and the cosmic-praise arc (V36-V45).
Bhakti lens
The gadgada-voice is one of the classical sāttvika-bhāvas of bhakti (eight involuntary marks of authentic devotional experience): romāñca (hair standing on end), sveda (perspiration), kampa (trembling), gadgada (stammering), aśru (tears), vaiccheda (change of color), stambha (paralysis), mūrcchā (fainting). Arjuna is displaying kampa (vepamaānaḥ) and gadgada (sa-gadgadam) simultaneously — two of the eight. After witnessing kālo'smi, the devotee's body can no longer pretend composure. The bodily response IS the teaching: you have been genuinely touched.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Having heard that speech of Kesava, the crowned one (Arjuna), with joined palms, trembling, prostrating himself, again addressed Krishna, stammering, bowing down overwhelmed with fear. [1]
Having heard this speech of Keshava, the diademed one (Arjuna), with joined palms, trembling, prostrated himself; and, bowing, with a choked voice, again spoke to Krishna. [4]
Hearing mighty Keshav's word, tremblingly that helmed Lord clasped his lifted palms, and — praying grace of Krishna — stood there, saying, with bowed brow and accents broken, these words, timorously spoken. [7]
Sanjaya continued: Hearing these words of Kesava, the diadem-decked Arjuna, trembling and with joined hands, bowed unto him; and once more said unto Krishna, with voice choked up and overwhelmed with fear. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Thus having spoken, Hari the great Lord of Yoga showed the son of Pṛthā His supreme Īśvara-form.
I see all the Gods within Your body, O God — Brahma on His lotus, all sages, all divine serpents!
Arjuna sees his own people ready to die — and his body breaks before his mind can argue.
Your own imperfect path beats another's perfect path. Death in your own dharma is better. Another's dharma brings fear.
Peaceful, fearless, vowed to brahmacharya, mind on Krishna — yoked in practice, with the Supreme as the final goal.
One with no ego-doer-sense, whose buddhi is untainted — even while killing all these beings, kills not, is not bound.