Gita 01.29 Know Which Emotion Is Mental And Which Spiritual Not Just By Content But Also By Context
vepathuś ca śarīre me
roma-harṣaś ca jāyate
gāṇḍīvaṁ sraṁsate hastāt
tvak caiva paridahyate
Word-for-word:
vepathuḥ — trembling of the body; ca — also; śarīre — on the body; me — my; roma-harṣaḥ — standing of hair on end; ca — also; jāyate — is taking place; gāṇḍīvam — the bow of Arjuna; sraṁsate — is slipping; hastāt — from the hand; tvak — skin; ca — also; eva — certainly; paridahyate — is burning.
Translation:
My whole body is trembling, my hair is standing on end, my bow Gāṇḍīva is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning.
Explanation:
Arjuna expresses the profound distress of his heart, stating:
vepathuś ca śarīre me: “My whole body is trembling”
roma-harṣaś ca jāyate: “My hair is standing on end”
gāṇḍīvaṁ sraṁsate hastāt: “My bow, Gāṇḍīva, is slipping from my hands”
tvak caiva paridahyate: “My skin is burning.”
For us, the body is a vivid locus of our consciousness, meaning we strongly experience whatever happens in the body. Although we are souls, essentially transcendental, the soul’s consciousness is situated in the body and extends outward through it. As a result, we tend to notice changes that occur at the physical level. However, when changes happen in the mind, we may experience them without fully recognizing them.
For instance, when we feel fear or worry, the emotion may exist within us, but we might not immediately perceive it because we simply get carried away by it. There’s a difference between experiencing something and being consciously aware of what we’re experiencing. We may be worried without even realizing it.
Though we are anxious, we may become so caught in the horror movie the mind is broadcasting that we fail to notice it is doing so. We might simply go along with it. To prevent this, we need to step back and observe what is happening. Self-observation is often easier when we notice physical effects, rather than trying to observe the mental cause. If our hand starts trembling, we are far more likely to notice it than if we are simply feeling fear at the mental level.
When Arjuna begins expressing what is going wrong with him, the result is that he can no longer move forward or do anything constructive—he becomes paralyzed. The word ‘paralysis’ is generally used in two senses—one refers to the physical condition where certain bodily limbs lose their ability to move, and the other describes a situation where we are overwhelmed by emotions. In the latter case, emotions control us so much that we can’t function properly.
Paralysis can be either mental or physical. If it is physically induced, the body literally cannot function, whereas mental paralysis occurs when emotions grip us so intensely that they hinder our ability to act. Arjuna, of course, is not entirely paralyzed—he is still speaking and aware of what is happening to him. However, this is a precursor to what will happen—he will become physically reluctant and eventually stop fighting, setting aside his bow.
Let’s take a closer look at the symptoms Arjuna is describing. He says his body is trembling, his hair is standing on end, the bow in his hands is slipping, and his skin is burning. The point here is that all of us must face difficult situations in life, and beyond the physical level, there are also the mental and spiritual levels. Our emotions often arise from the mind, especially when they manifest physically as bodily symptoms. These emotions may originate from either the mental or the spiritual level. For instance, we may experience ecstasy on a spiritual level, which can also produce physical symptoms like horripilation. When someone is ecstatic, dramatic changes occur at the physical level—whether in their awareness, their sensations of agony, or whatever else they may be experiencing.
Each of us must learn to distinguish between what is mental and what is spiritual. How do we go about doing that? For this, a certain degree of philosophical education is absolutely essential. Without proper philosophical awareness, we may simply get swept away by the emotions surfacing in our mind and fail to act constructively, mistaking the mental for the spiritual.
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that such symptoms can arise either from physical ecstasy or from fear. In Arjuna’s case, at this point, he is not truly absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, so his emotions cannot be considered spiritual. Therefore, it’s safe to say they are coming from the mental platform.
It was mentioned just before Arjuna began speaking that he was overwhelmed by compassion. His fear is not so much about losing his own life, but rather the loss of his loved ones and the multiple generations assembled on the battlefield who will perish at once, leading to catastrophe. Not only would their deaths be catastrophic, but they would also trigger further catastrophes. Arjuna will describe the various catastrophes he envisions in due course, but for now, his intense emotions are being portrayed.
We can discern a particular emotion by considering both the context and the consequence. To distinguish between material and spiritual emotions, we need to look beyond just the content of the emotion, as the content can be similar for emotions induced by loving ecstasy and by fearful agony. It’s essential to examine not only the content but also the context.
In this case, there is no devotional absorption in Kṛṣṇa. Although Arjuna is speaking to Kṛṣṇa, he is not truly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness at this point. He is absorbed in self-consciousness or context-consciousness—focused on what is happening on the battlefield. If we consider the consequence, it will be that he will put aside his bow and ultimately give up his dharmic duty. Abandoning his dharmic duty indicates that what he is experiencing is taking him away from his dharma. If the emotion were spiritual, it would lead him towards Kṛṣṇa and dharma. Since Arjuna is moving in the opposite direction, we can safely infer that the emotion he is experiencing is not spiritual but mundane, emerging from the mind.
Thank you.
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