Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Now it is shifted to Sanjaya when speech Arjuna is speaking when there is action Arjuna is not speaking and here Sanjay is speaking.

Bg 1.46

sañjaya uvāca

evam uktvārjunaḥ saṅkhye
rathopastha upāviśat
visṛjya sa-śaraṁ cāpaṁ
śoka-saṁvigna-mānasaḥ

Word for word: 

sañjayaḥ uvāca — Sañjaya said; evam — thus; uktvā — saying; arjunaḥ — Arjuna; saṅkhye — in the battlefield;ratha — of the chariot; upasthe — on the seat; upāviśat — sat down again; visṛjya — putting aside; sa–śaram — along with arrows; cāpam — the bow; śoka — by lamentation; saṁvigna — distressed; mānasaḥ — within the mind.

Translation: 

Sañjaya said: Arjuna, having thus spoken on the battlefield, cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot, his mind overwhelmed with grief.

evam uktvā, having spoken like this, ārjunaḥ saṅkhye, saṅkhye means in the battlefield, after speaking thus rathopastha upāviśat, Arjuna sat down, a warrior seating down itself is indicative that he is not fighting and if that is not clear, visṛjya sa-śaraṁ cāpaṁ, he put aside his bow, śoka-saṁvigna-mānasaḥ, his mind filled with gloom śoka, how can I fight, what can I do? So Bhagavad Giat is definitely a historical event the war did took place but at the same time there is an also a deeper significance which applies universally. So in first initiation ceremony Srila Prabhupada said that now you should not lament because you have given the reins of your chariot to Sri Krishna, so SP is saying the body is like a chariot and Krishna is like a charioteer so the symbolic meaning is not wrong if it is not supplanting replacing the real meaning but it can supplement the literal meaning that means if it gives further illumination that is perfectly ok. So Arjuna’s upraised gandiva bow represents living entities determination to serve Krishna so Arjuna come with upraised gandiva bow to serve Krishna but by pratakshaya and anuman i.e. by observing and inferring based on the observation he lost his determination and he put aside the bow so same happens with us when we look up the world and we try to do our own reasoning we star getting doubt does God exists? Does God care? Why should I serve God I will do practical things in this world and Prataksha Anuman eat away our determination so Arjuna put aside his bow where as Sabda revives our determination, sabda nourishes our determination that is what has happened to Arjuna he will turn to Krishna and Krishna will speak and the last verse of BG 18.78 is Yatra Parthas Dhanurdhara so by the end of BG that bow which Arjun has put down is Arjuna has picked it up, so like that by hearing the message of BG, by meditating on it by understanding and internalizing it then we will get the strength and then our determination ot serve Krishna will become restored we will understand that Sri Krishna is my greatest well wisher and by serving Krishna my best interest will be served even if I don’t understand it right now, that is how BG will restore our faith in sabda and restore our determination, enthusiasm and bring us back to life to live in such a way so that we can live forever with Krishna is the future.

End of transcription.