Bhagavad Gita · Arjuna Vishada YogaChapter 1, Shloka 31 (1.31)

"Nimittāni viparītāni" — adverse omens. Shridhara: aniṣṭa-sūcakāni śakunāni — omens that foretell harm. Madhusudana gives examples — such as the twitching of the left eye (in traditional belief, inauspicious for a man). Arjuna sees bad signs all around him.

Notice: when the mind is already in sorrow, everything often begins to look like a "bad sign". The shloka itself does not say whether the omens were real or not — only that this is how they appeared to Arjuna.

"Keśava" — the sense of the address. Madhusudana says: by slaying wicked demons like Keshi, you always protect your devotees — so you will save me too, by removing my grief. (The traditional derivation: the slayer of the asura named Keshi = Keshava. Madhusudana also gives another derivation: ka (Brahma) and īśa (Rudra) — the one who is lord even of them.) In other words, Arjuna's address is also a hidden prayer.

"Na ca śreyo 'nupaśyāmi" — I see no good. This is Arjuna's first argument: there is no good in this war. Madhusudana deepens it:

• Shreya (the good) — whether drishta (of this world) or adrishta (of the next) — he sees neither.
• According to a traditional verse, a warrior killed while fighting face to face in battle (and a yogi who is a renunciate) attains the highest state — but no such special merit is described for the one who kills. So when there is no good even in killing a stranger, there is certainly none in killing one's own.
• By saying "ahave" (in battle), Arjuna also makes clear that he is speaking of the regular context of war.

From body to argument. Notice — in 1.30 the mind was reeling, and in 1.31 Arjuna begins to argue. Can a reeling mind reason rightly? The Gita will raise exactly this question later.