Bhagavad Gita · Arjuna Vishada YogaChapter 1, Shloka 22 (1.22)
Original Sanskrit · अर्जुनः
यावदेतान् निरीक्षेऽहं योद्धुकामानवस्थितान्
कैर्मया सह योद्धव्यमस्मिन् रणसमुद्यमे
॥ 1.22 ॥
yāvadetān nirīkṣe'haṃ yoddhukāmānavasthitān
kairmayā saha yoddhavyamasmin raṇasamudyame
Translation
"(Keep the chariot in the middle) until I have looked well at these men standing here eager for battle — and seen with whom I must fight in this undertaking of war."
Interpretation
A warrior's practical question. Arjuna's intention at this moment is entirely strategic. A warrior needs to know who is in front of him — who stands where, whom he will face first. No doubt appears in this.
"Yoddhu-kāmān avasthitān" — standing firm, wanting to fight. Madhusudana Sarasvati reads these two words carefully: yoddhukāmān — "those who want to fight, not to make a sandhi (settlement) with us"; avasthitān — "those who stand firm, not shaken by fear". In other words, Arjuna wants to make sure that those opposite are really ready for war — that there is no possibility of peace at the last moment.
Another point from Madhusudana. "In this undertaking of war — which is a war among kinsmen themselves — whom I must fight, and who will fight me: to know this is a great curiosity." Madhusudana's words bandhūnām eva parasparaṃ yuddhodyoge — "a war among kinsmen themselves" — deserve attention: this family nature of the war is, for now, information in Arjuna's mind; it has not yet become pain.
The weight of the question is about to change. "Whom must I fight?" — for now this is a strategic question. A few shlokas later this same question will become a moral one: "should I fight these?" The same words, a completely different meaning.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.