The Bhagavad-gita’s first chapter usually has two titles: observing the armies or Arjuna’s lamentation. These titles broadly indicate the two main sections of the chapter. 

The Gita begins with Dhritarashtra, the blind king of the Kaurava kingdom, asking his assistant Sanjaya about the events on the Kurukshetra battlefield (01.01). At Kurukshetra, Duryodhana is shaken on seeing the formidable military formation of the Pandavas and approaches Drona, one of his key generals (01.02). Speaking to Drona while simultaneously addressing others nearby, he does a comparative assessment of the two armies, seeking to motivate both himself and his forces (01.03-11). The Kaurava commander Bhishma blows his conch to signify the starting of the war (01.12), which is the signal for other Kaurava warriors to blow their conches too (01.13). The army on the other side responds in kind. Prominent among them are the archer Arjuna and his charioteer Krishna who both blow their conches (01.14), as do many other Pandava warriors (01.16-18). Their tumultuous roar, conveying their might, leaves the Kauravas unnerved (01.19).

Against the run of play, Arjuna desires to see who have joined the evil Duryodhana (01.20-23) and requests Krishna to take his chariot between the two armies (01.24). From that central vantage point, he sees his venerable elders Bhishma and Drona (01.25), prominent among many relatives, spanning several generations (01.26). Contemplating the impending fratricidal war, Arjuna loses his composure (01.27). With his skin burning, his mind reeling, his bow slipping from his hand (01.28-30), he speaks to Krishna, voicing personal and social reasons for not fighting. Personally, he feels that no material gain is worth the agony and bad karma of killing one’s relatives, even if they are aggressors and are greedy (01.31-38). Socially, he thinks that the war will destroy the dynasties that are meant to serve as social protectors and bring cultural ruination that will extend over several generations (01.39-42). Those who subject humanity to such hellish conditions will themselves suffer hellish conditions in their future lives (01.43). 

Deciding that being killed without fighting is better than killing relatives for wealth (01.44-45), Arjuna casts aside his bow, in a dramatic demonstration of his refusal to fight (01.46).