BG 1.10 — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 1.10Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · Arjuna → Krishna · anuṣṭubh

अपर्याप्तं तदस्माकं बलं भीष्माभिरक्षितम् ।

पर्याप्तं त्विदमेतेषां बलं भीमाभिरक्षितम् ॥

aparyāptaṃ tad asmākaṃ balaṃ bhīṣmābhirakṣitam

paryāptaṃ tv idam eteṣāṃ balaṃ bhīmābhirakṣitam

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Our force, guarded by Bhīṣma, is boundless; theirs, guarded by Bhīma, is limited, or so Duryodhana claims. The same words read the other way say his army falls short and theirs will suffice.

ekras · bhāṣya

Duryodhana speaks the line that has confused commentators for two thousand years. "Our force, protected by Bhishma, is aparyaptam. Theirs, protected by Bhima, is paryaptam." Two readings of the same words. Reading one is Duryodhana's intended boast. Aparyaptam means "unlimited, boundless." Our force is unlimited; theirs is limited. We have everything; they have less. Reading two is Duryodhana's actual confession. Aparyaptam means "not enough." Our force is insufficient; theirs is sufficient. The grammar holds both meanings; the listener picks which is being said.

Ramsukhdas Maharaj reads it the second way. Duryodhana, in his internal calculation, knows the Kaurava side is insufficient. Bhishma is the chief commander, but Bhishma loves Krishna, respects Yudhishthira, has affection for Arjuna — he is dual-loyal. The chief commander of the Kaurava army is half-hearted. The Pandava side, smaller in number, is unified. Bhima as their protector has vowed to kill all hundred Kaurava brothers. From childhood Bhima has overpowered Duryodhana physically; Duryodhana once tried to poison Bhima and Bhima survived. So Duryodhana's own arithmetic, beneath the boast, names the truth: the bigger army is hollow, the smaller army is whole.

Context

where

Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Arjuna → Krishna

preceded by — BG 1.9

Many other heroes stand ready to give their lives for my cause, armed with every manner of weapon, all skilled in battle.

What's going on

Our force, guarded by Bhīṣma, is boundless; theirs, guarded by Bhīma, is limited, or so Duryodhana claims. The same words read the other way say his army falls short and theirs will suffice.

Sūtras through this verse (99)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

1.1Means and end set out as one paired axis.───→here1.10───→2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleapproach

───→here1.10───→2.12Every soul named here is a real distinct self.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)approach

───→here1.10───→2.47Hold no mine-ness on body or on fruit.

show all 99

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaapproach · other

───→here1.10───→2.18Image perishes, source endures

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeapproach

───→here1.10───→2.18The mirror breaks but the sun is unhurt.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesapproach

───→here1.10───→2.23Even great gods are unequal in their glory.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionapproach

───→here1.10───→2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksapproach

───→here1.10───→2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadapproach

───→here1.10───→2.23Nāradīya names what reason cannot prove.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsapproach

───→here1.10───→2.39The two paths name one practice, one fruit.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeapproach

───→here1.10───→2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do aloneapproach

───→here1.10───→2.23Without worship of Hari no one ever crosses.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotapproach

───→here1.10───→2.13Self-survival is settled by śruti, not by reason.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here1.10───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here1.10───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actapproach

───→here1.10───→2.47Only a human body can do new action.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here1.10───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workapproach

───→here1.10───→2.45Rise above the modes, said in chapter two.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipapproach

───→here1.10───→2.31A warrior's own duty is the war he faces.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterapproach

───→here1.10───→2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingapproach

───→here1.10───→2.14Bear pleasure and pain as a passing season.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here1.10───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here1.10───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here1.10───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

1.1Dialectical chain present from line one.───→here1.10───→2.39Nanu… tatrāha: one pair, named.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

1.2Same form repeats on the next verse.───→here1.10───→2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathapproach · v2

───→here1.10───→2.47Right to action

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourapproach · v2

───→here1.10───→2.13Bodies pass, the dehī does not

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterapproach · v2

───→here1.10───→1.29The body fails

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here1.10───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here1.10───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesapproach · v2

───→here1.10───→2.41Single-pointed buddhi

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here1.10───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here1.10───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Family Conflictapproach · other

───→here1.10───→1.31Bad omens

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthaapproach · other

───→here1.10───→2.10Thesis flat

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseaseapproach

───→here1.10───→2.10Sorrow and delusion are the seed of saṁsāra.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downapproach

───→here1.10───→2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youapproach

───→here1.10───→2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentapproach

───→here1.10───→2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here1.10───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here1.10───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimapproach

───→here1.10───→2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here1.10───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asiapproach

───→here1.10───→2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledapproach

───→here1.10───→2.47Primary fitness needs ripened conditions.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here1.10───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyapproach

───→here1.10───→2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here1.10───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiapproach

───→here1.10───→2.47Action stays; the wish for fruit goes.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentapproach

───→here1.10───→2.39Wisdom section wound up here.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideapproach

───→here1.10───→2.13Same I as a child is now in this body.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by verseapproach

───→here1.10───→2.12Plurals block monistic absorption.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedapproach

───→here1.10───→2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaapproach

───→here1.10───→2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here1.10───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātraapproach

───→here1.10───→2.13Pratyabhijñā backed by śruti citation.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhaapproach

───→here1.10───→2.13Two objections, three pādas glossed.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availableapproach

───→here1.10───→2.13Recognition is literal across bodies.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥapproach

───→here1.10───→2.11Madhva first speaks, Jayatīrtha supplies.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

1.1Discrimination overrun by grief and confusion.───→here1.10───→2.1Pity and despair treated as guests, not host.

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanaapproach · other

───→here1.10───→2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here1.10───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunaapproach

───→here1.10───→1.28Arjuna at the edge: 'Drishtvemam svajanam Krishna yuyutsum samupasthitam, sidant

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipapproach

───→here1.10───→2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handapproach

───→here1.10───→2.47Middle finger. Nishkama karma plus the failure-gym. 'Karmany evadhikaras te, ma

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralapproach

───→here1.10───→2.13The memorial-register anchor. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, ta

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101approach

───→here1.10───→2.13Reincarnation pillar. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha deha

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here1.10───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netiapproach

───→here1.10───→2.13Body changes. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara.' Gaurav opens the

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningapproach

───→here1.10───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsapproach

───→here1.10───→2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landapproach

───→here1.10───→2.39Pure mind for knowing, impure mind for acting.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingapproach

───→here1.10───→2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherapproach

───→here1.10───→2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here1.10───→3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalJ

Sañjaya's frame — evidentiary, not ornamentalbetween

1.2Dṛṣṭvā tu — Sañjaya speaks to be heard later.───→here1.10───→11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesbetween

1.1See Viṭṭhaleśa's hand for chapter one's gloss.───→here1.10───→1.31The despondency catalogue goes to Viṭṭhaleśa.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketapproach

───→here1.10───→2.10The teaching opens at the carama-bracket.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here1.10───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorapproach

───→here1.10───→2.12Plurals refute the unitary-self read.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionapproach

───→here1.10───→2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationapproach

───→here1.10───→2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefapproach

───→here1.10───→2.10Krishna smiles before the first mā-śucaḥ.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here1.10───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesapproach

───→here1.10───→2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderapproach

───→here1.10───→2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personapproach

───→here1.10───→2.12The eternal among the eternal, conscious among the conscious.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordapproach

───→here1.10───→2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridapproach

───→here1.10───→2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

1.1A raft of teaching crosses the grief-sea.───→here1.10───→2.7I am sunk in pity; ask, do not order.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

1.1The first epithet: supremely compassionate.───→here1.10───→4.7When right wanes, I take a body.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingapproach

───→here1.10───→2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here1.10───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerapproach

───→here1.10───→2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessapproach

───→here1.10───→2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesapproach

───→here1.10───→2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)approach

───→here1.10───→2.10Bracket opens here.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)approach

───→here1.10───→2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.

Śabda · lemmas (11 unique · 14 occurrences)

पर्याप्तम् √paryāp ×2 — to be sufficient, suffice (pari- + √āp) · nominative neuter singular participle noun
बलम् bala ×2 — strength, power, force · nominative neuter singular noun

show all 11

अभिरक्षितम् abhi-√rakṣ ×2 — to protect, guard (abhi- + √rakṣ) · nominative neuter singular participle noun
अ a — negation prefix (un-, non-, not)
तत् tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative neuter singular noun
अस्माकम् mad — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · genitive plural noun
भीष्म bhīṣma — Bhīṣma (the Kuru patriarch); also: terrible, frightful · compound
तु tu — but, on the other hand (particle)
इदम् idam — this (proximal demonstrative) · nominative neuter singular noun
एतेषाम् etad — this (proximal demonstrative) · genitive masculine plural noun
भीम bhīma — Bhīma (the second Pāṇḍava); also: terrible · compound

Praśna · so what (7)

01Duryodhana perceives his own general Bhīṣma as a source of strategic weakness precisely because Bhīṣma's loyalties are divided — what does this tell us about the relationship between wholeness of commitment and effective action, and where in our own lives do we appoint 'Bhīṣmas' to guard what matters most?
02Madhusūdana identifies two grammatically valid but strategically opposite readings of the same two words: does the ambiguity of 'aparyāptam' and 'paryāptam' reveal Duryodhana's conscious calculation, unconscious fear, or both simultaneously — and what does it mean when our own language about strength betrays the opposite of what we intend?

show all 7

03Rāmānuja reads Duryodhana's viṣāda (dejection) as emerging the moment he finishes his strategic report — before any battle blow is struck; if dejection can arrive from merely surveying a situation, what is the difference between realistic assessment and the projection of defeat?
04The verse is entirely about bala (strength, army, force) as a comparative and quantifiable thing; the Gītā will spend its next seventeen chapters dissolving this frame — at what point does strategic analysis become a prison, and what would it take for Duryodhana to exit that prison?
05Śrīdhara's commentary turns entirely on ekapakṣapāta (single-sided partisanship) versus ubhayapakṣapāta (partial to both sides) as the decisive variable — is single-pointed commitment always a strength, or does the Gītā ultimately ask for something beyond partisanship entirely?
06If Bhīṣma, the most powerful warrior on the field, is simultaneously the greatest strategic liability because of his dual loyalties, what does this say about the limits of greatness that is not also wholeness — and what modern equivalents come to mind?
07The Śuddhādvaita and Dvaita readings both interpret this moment as the Lord arranging conditions so that the soul discovers its own insufficiency — is spiritual surrender ever possible without first experiencing the precise flavor of one's own 'aparyāptatā,' one's own not-enoughness?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you feel the compulsive need to audit your resources against a rival's — counting advantages, comparing teams, tallying disadvantages — notice that the very activity of 'my side versus their side' is the mechanism of avidyā (ignorance) operating in real time. The Advaita practice is not to stop assessing, but to hold assessments lightly, as functional overlays on a ground that does not divide. Before any high-stakes comparison, pause and ask: who is the one doing the comparing, and is that one on either side?

Viśiṣṭādvaita

In Rāmānuja's reading, Duryodhana's dejection arrives because he measures only bala that he can see and count. The Viśiṣṭādvaita application: when you face a resource comparison at work, in relationships, or in health — and feel the contraction of 'we are outmatched' — deliberately reframe the question as 'what form of kainkarya (dedicated service) is available to me right now, regardless of outcome?' Shifting from outcome-arithmetic to service-orientation is the practitioner's daily move from viṣāda to vairāgya.

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Dvaita

The Dvaita teaching from this verse is about the error of treating your own capacities as self-generated. Before a meeting where you feel under-resourced, under-prepared, or numerically outgunned, explicitly acknowledge that your bala (capacity, energy, skill) is paratantra — dependent on Hari's anugraha (grace). This is not passivity; Madhva's tradition is intensely action-oriented. It is rather the recognition that acting from 'my power' versus 'power flowing through me' produces entirely different internal states and, over time, entirely different results.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's Puṣṭi-mārga asks: what if your current sense of inadequacy — your 'aparyāptatā' — is itself the Lord's gift, the withdrawal of the illusion of self-sufficiency so that you might surrender more completely? The everyday practice: when you notice the feeling 'I do not have enough, I am not enough,' treat it not as a problem to solve but as prasāda (grace) to receive. Sit with it for sixty seconds before reaching for a solution. Let the insufficiency point you toward the only source that is actually paryāpta — complete.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's insight about ekapakṣapāta (single-sided partisanship) as the decisive variable has a direct application in any form of care, mentorship, or guardianship: the person who protects your project, relationship, or creative work with undivided commitment is more valuable than a more powerful ally whose loyalty is hedged. Before accepting support, ask honestly whether your 'Bhīṣma' is fully present or partially elsewhere — and before offering support to others, examine whether you yourself are showing up with ekapakṣapāta or with divided attention.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's two-reading gambit models a practice of holding competing self-assessments simultaneously rather than collapsing to one. When you find yourself oscillating between 'I have more than enough to handle this' and 'I am nowhere near sufficient for this challenge,' Madhusūdana's synthesis suggests that both are grammatically valid readings of the same inner text — and that neither is final. The advaita-bhakti practice is to bring both readings to Kṛṣṇa (or whatever name you use for the ground of your being), and ask not 'which reading is true?' but 'what action is called for from the one who holds both?'

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 1, Verse 10: Arjuna to Krishna — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga