📿 Shloka Collection

Kairmaya Saha Yoddhavyam

Gita 1.22 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 1 — Arjuna Vishada Yoga
यावदेतान्निरीक्षेऽहं योद्धुकामानवस्थितान् ।
कैर्मया सह योद्धव्यमस्मिन् रणसमुद्यमे ॥
Yavadetannirikshe'ham yoddhukaman avasthitan
Kairmaya saha yoddhavyam asmin ranasamudyame
यावत्
until
एतान्
all these
निरीक्षे
I may observe
अहम्
I
योद्धुकामान्
those desiring to fight
कैः
with whom
मया
by me
सह
together with
योद्धव्यम्
must be fought
रणसमुद्यमे
in this great battle effort

Arjuna continues his request: "Let me see those who have gathered here, ready for war. I want to know with whom I must fight in this great battle." He is still speaking as a warrior with clear eyes and a steady hand. There is no tremor yet.

This is the thinking of a skilled fighter — identify your opponents, understand what you are up against, then act. Like a chess player studying the board before making the first move, Arjuna wants a full picture of the battlefield before he draws his bowstring.

But the man who set out to study his "enemies" is about to discover that the faces across the field belong to his own teachers, grandfathers, uncles, and brothers. That discovery will change everything.

This shloka is a continuation of the previous one (1.21). Together they form a single request from Arjuna. Some commentators read them as one combined verse.

From a storytelling perspective, this is the calm before the storm. Arjuna is composed and resolute at this moment. Within a few shlokas, his entire world will be upended.

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