Shloka 21
Arjuna Vishada Yoga — The Yoga of Arjuna's Despondency
हृषीकेशं तदा वाक्यमिदमाह महीपते । अर्जुन उवाच । सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युत ॥ १.२१ ॥
hṛṣīkeśaṁ tadā vākyam idam āha mahīpate | arjuna uvāca | senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me 'cyuta || 1.21 ||
Arjuna said: O Acyuta, place my chariot between the two armies.
Arjuna said: O Acyuta (Kṛṣṇa), place my chariot between the two armies.
Arjuna addressed Hṛṣīkeśa: “Station my chariot in the middle of both forces, O Acyuta.”
The Gītā Press style often foregrounds devotional epithets (Hṛṣīkeśa/Acyuta) with interpretive glosses; the academic rendering keeps them as proper epithets and stays close to the imperative sense. No major variant is implied here.
FAQs
Arjuna initiates a pause before engagement, indicating a need to assess circumstances rather than act impulsively; this anticipates his later moral and emotional conflict.
The request can be read as positioning consciousness “between” opposing tendencies—an inward stance that enables discrimination prior to commitment.
This verse sets up Arjuna’s direct observation of those assembled, which becomes the immediate trigger for his crisis and the ensuing teaching.
Before major decisions, deliberately “place oneself in the middle” of competing pressures—gather information, reflect, and seek counsel.