Bhagavad Gita · Arjuna Vishada YogaChapter 1, Shloka 28 (1.28)

"Kṛpayā parayāviṣṭaḥ" — overcome by deep compassion. Arjuna's first feeling is kripa — compassion, pity. Not anger, not fear. This is worth noticing: the Gita begins Arjuna's despair not with cowardice but with compassion. Madhusudana Sarasvati says this compassion was innate in Arjuna — it did not come from any outside cause, it rose from his own nature. The epithet "para" (supreme, extreme) expresses exactly this.

Another reading from Madhusudana — "aparayā". In a text written without spaces, kṛpayāparayāviṣṭaḥ can also be read as "kṛpayā aparayā āviṣṭaḥ" — "by another compassion". Madhusudana offers this option: compassion for his own army was already there; at this moment another compassion arose, for the Kaurava army too. Our base text, with spacing and avagraha, reads parayā; the second reading is a lovely alternative from the commentary.

"Āviṣṭa" — as if a feeling had "entered into" him. The sense of the word is that Arjuna is under the sway of compassion, not compassion under his. Many teachers see a subtle hint here: compassion is good, but when it covers discernment, it can become moha (delusion). Later the Gita (Sanjaya in 2.1, and Krishna in 2.2–2.3) will call this state kaśmala (a stain on the mind/delusion) and hṛdaya-daurbalya (weakness of heart).

"Viṣīdan" — sinking. Vi + sad — "to sink down, to drown". This is the root of the word vishada (despair). Shridhara: viśeṣeṇa sīdan, avasādaṃ glāniṃ labhamānaḥ — "sinking deeply, overcome by exhaustion and dejection."

Arjuna's first words in despair — "dṛṣṭvemaṃ svajanam". "Seeing these my own people." Now they are not "Duryodhana's supporters" (1.23) — they are svajana, his own people. The same group, two words — and two completely different worlds.