Bhagavad Gita · Arjuna Vishada YogaChapter 1, Shloka 29 (1.29)

The language of the body. This part of the Gita is remarkably honest. The great warrior Arjuna, who fought even gods and demons (according to the stories of the Mahabharata), lays his body's weakness before Krishna in plain words: "my hands and feet are failing me, my mouth is drying up, I am trembling." No excuse, no hiding.

Four symptoms:

1. Gātrāṇi sīdanti — limbs giving way: Shridhara: kara-caraṇādīni sīdanti viśīryante — the hands, feet and so on are as if falling apart.
2. Mukhaṃ pariśuṣyati — mouth drying up: Shridhara: nirdravī-bhavati — the moisture is gone. Madhusudana draws attention to the prefix "pari" (completely): this is not the dryness of ordinary fatigue but far more — to show the intensity of grief.
3. Vepathuḥ — trembling: Shridhara: kampaḥ.
4. Romaharṣaḥ — hair standing on end: Shridhara: romāñcaḥ.

Madhusudana's philosophical diagnosis. Madhusudana gives a cause behind these symptoms: Arjuna, who holds the sense of "I" and "mine" towards his own and others' bodies, and does not know the Self (anātmavit), fell into great grief on seeing the possibility of bodies being destroyed in the war. That is, the root of this grief is taking the body itself to be the person. In the second chapter, Krishna's first major teaching will address exactly this point: the Self (atma) is distinct from the body and indestructible (2.11–2.30).

Arjuna's honesty — a virtue. It is not easy to put one's weakness into words. Arjuna is completely open before Krishna. Many teachers regard this as the first mark of a good disciple: stating one's condition just as it is. This interpretation is ours.