Bhagavad Gita · Arjuna Vishada YogaChapter 1, Shloka 30 (1.30)

"Gāṇḍīvaṃ sraṃsate hastāt" — the Gandiva is slipping. The Gandiva is Arjuna's identity — according to the Mahabharata story, a divine bow he received (through Agni) during the episode of the Khandava forest. The very bow he raised so eagerly in 1.20 is now slipping from his hand. Madhusudana Sarasvati says: the falling of the Gandiva shows adhairya (lack of courage) and daurbalya (weakness).

"Tvak paridahyate" — the skin is burning. Shridhara: sarvataḥ santapyate — burning all over. Madhusudana: this shows antah-santaap — inner burning. The heat of the body is a reflection of the heat of the mind.

"Na ca śaknomy avasthātum" — I cannot stand. Madhusudana: this hints at murchha (fainting) — Arjuna is on the point of collapsing.

"Bhramatīva ca me manaḥ" — my mind seems to be reeling. Madhusudana: the reeling of the mind — a kind of disturbance — is the state just before fainting. And the word iva (as if) shows that this is an experience, not literal spinning.

The progression from body to mind. Look at the order of symptoms in 1.29 and 1.30: limbs giving way → mouth dry → trembling → hair on end → bow slipping → skin burning → unable to stand → mind reeling. From outside to inside. Starting in the body, the crisis has now reached the mind — where decisions are made. When the mind itself is reeling, how can reasoning stay steady? Arjuna's arguments in the following shlokas will come from this reeling mind — this should be kept in mind while reading them. (This connection is our interpretation.)