सञ्जय उवाच एवमुक्त्वा हृषीकेशं गुडाकेशः परन्तप। न योत्स्य इति गोविन्दमुक्त्वा तूष्णीं बभूव ह॥
sañjaya uvāca / evam uktvā hṛṣīkeśaṃ guḍākeśaḥ parantapa / na yotsya iti govindam uktvā tūṣṇīṃ babhūva ha
Three words: 'I will not fight' — then silence. The lowest point before the teaching.
Word by word (5)
- sañjaya uvāca
- — Sanjaya said
- evam uktvā hṛṣīkeśam
- — having spoken thus to Hrishikesha (Krishna, master of the senses)
- guḍākeśaḥ parantapa
- — Gudakesa (Arjuna, conqueror of sleep) the Scorcher of Enemies
- na yotsye iti govindam uktvā
- — saying 'I will not fight' to Govinda (Krishna)
- tūṣṇīm babhūva ha
- — became silent / fell completely silent · The silence is complete. After all the arguments, all the grief, all the speeches — Arjuna says 'I will not fight' and goes silent. This silence is the lowest point. And into this silence, Krishna speaks the entire Gita.
Sanjaya said: 'Having spoken thus to Hrishikesha, Gudakesa said to Govinda: 'I will not fight.' And he fell silent.'
A modern analogy
The moment of final refusal — not loud, not angry, just quiet and complete. 'I can't do this.' And then silence. Not the silence of contemplation but the silence of a person who has used every word they have and arrived at the end of their own story.
Take with you
- 'Na yotsye' — three Sanskrit words. The most compact statement of Arjuna's position. Three words and then silence.
- The silence is significant: there is nothing more to argue. He has said everything. The teaching now has space to enter.
- Sanjaya's use of both Arjuna's epithets (Gudakesa = conqueror of sleep, Parantapa = scorcher of enemies) at this moment of total collapse creates deep irony — and depth.
The contrast of epithets is worth dwelling on: Arjuna is called 'guḍākeśaḥ' (conqueror of sleep — the one who is always vigilant) and 'parantapa' (scorcher of enemies). These are his epithets of power and alertness. And he says 'I will not fight' and goes silent. The irony is precise: the conqueror of sleep has been conquered by grief; the scorcher of enemies cannot face his opponents. The silence is where the Gita truly begins. Everything from V10 onward is Krishna filling Arjuna's silence with the entire teaching. The Gita, in a sense, is what Arjuna hears when he stops talking.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus to Hrishikesha, Gudakesa said to Govinda, 'I will not fight,' and became silent. [4]
Sanjaya: So spake Arjuna to the Lord of Hearts, and, sighing, 'I will not fight!' sank down to silence. [7]
Sanjaya said: Thus spoke Gudakesa, the burner of enemies, to Hrishikesha, and said to Govinda, 'I will not fight,' and remained silent. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Into the silence, between two armies — Krishna smiles and begins to speak.
Arjuna's honest confusion: if wisdom is better than action, why push me into this terrible fight?
Approach the teacher with prostration, inquiry, and service. The knowers of truth will instruct you in jñāna.
Yoga is the disconnection from suffering — practise it with firm resolve and a mind that does not despond.
All beings arise from these two natures as their womb — and I am the origin and dissolution of the entire universe.
Therefore remember Me at all times and fight — mind and intellect fixed on Me, you will come to Me without doubt.