Chapter 1, Verse 27
श्वशुरान् सुहृदश्चैव सेनयोरुभयोरपि। तान् समीक्ष्य स कौन्तेयः सर्वान् बन्धूनवस्थितान्।।
śvaśurān suhṛdaś caiva senayor ubhayor api tān samīkṣya sa kaunteyaḥ sarvān bandhūn avasthitān
Meaning
Also fathers-in-law and well-wishers on both sides — seeing all his relatives standing there, the son of Kunti —
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Arjuna's gaze encompasses not just the Kaurava army but both sides: well-wishers, fathers-in-law, companions of his heart are standing in both arrays. The grief about to overwhelm him is not partisan. It is not the grief of an enemy facing him with weapons; it is the grief of love meeting the demands of war. His own people are on both sides of the battlefield.
The continuation of the verse into the next is deliberately suspended here, mid-sentence, capturing the grammatical parallel of Arjuna's interrupted experience: he surveys, he recognises, and then — in the very next verse — the emotion breaks through. The Sanskrit structure itself enacts the narrative.
This verse deepens the universality of Arjuna's dilemma. His crisis is not unique to warriors. Any person who has had to choose between two sides of a family conflict, between institutional loyalty and personal conscience, between competing loves — knows the exact texture of what Arjuna is experiencing in this moment. The Gita's wisdom is for this universal human situation.
💡 Key Takeaway
When you find beloved people on both sides of a conflict, the way through is not to harden your heart but to seek wisdom that transcends the binary.
Related Verses
युधामन्युश्च विक्रान्त उत्तमौजाश्च वीर्यवान्। सौभद्रो द्रौपदेयाश्च सर्व एव महारथाः।।
yudhāmanyuś ca vikrānta uttamaujāś ca vīryavān saubhadro draupadeyāś ca sarva eva mahārathāḥ
The mighty Yudhamanyu, the valiant Uttamaujas, the son of Subhadra (Abhimanyu), and the sons of Draupadi — all are great chariot-warriors without exception.
भवान्भीष्मश्च कर्णश्च कृपश्च समितिञ्जयः। अश्वत्थामा विकर्णश्च सौमदत्तिस्तथैव च।।
bhavān bhīṣmaś ca karṇaś ca kṛpaś ca samitiñjayaḥ aśvatthāmā vikarṇaś ca saumadattis tathaiva ca
There are yourself (Drona), Bhishma, Karna, Kripa who is ever-victorious, Ashvatthama, Vikarna, and Bhurishrava, the son of Somadatta.
अन्ये च बहवः शूरा मदर्थे त्यक्तजीविताः। नानाशस्त्रप्रहरणाः सर्वे युद्धविशारदाः।।
anye ca bahavaḥ śūrā mad-arthe tyakta-jīvitāḥ nānā-śastra-praharaṇāḥ sarve yuddha-viśāradāḥ
And there are many other heroes armed with various weapons, all skilled in warfare and ready to lay down their lives for my sake.