Sensitivity is sacred when guided by wisdom.
Sanjaya narrates to King Dhritarashtra
श्वशुरान् सुहृदश्चैव सेनयोरुभयोरपि।तान् समीक्ष्य स कौन्तेयः सर्वान् बन्धूनवस्थितान्।।
śvaśurān suhṛdaś caiva senayor ubhayor api tān samīkṣya sa kaunteyaḥ sarvān bandhūn avasthitān
Use this verse when emotions make the right step feel painful.
Meaning
He also saw fathers-in-law and well-wishers in both armies. Seeing all these relatives standing there, the son of Kunti was deeply moved.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
The battlefield is now filled with relationships, memories, and emotional bonds. Arjuna is not afraid of war; he is overwhelmed by human connection.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
This verse deepens Arjuna’s emotional shift. He sees not only opponents but well-wishers and relatives. The word 'bandhu' matters because it points to connection.
The Gita does not mock this feeling. It allows us to see Arjuna as human, sensitive, and morally awake. In modern life, many major decisions are emotionally heavy because they affect real people.
Moving cities, ending partnerships, enforcing discipline, choosing truth over family pressure, or taking a hard professional stand can feel like standing between two armies. This verse validates emotional sensitivity, while preparing us to learn that sensitivity must be guided by wisdom.
Read the traditional 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.
In daily life
Do not suppress emotion, but do not let emotion alone decide dharma.
A founder may hesitate to remove an underperforming friend from a key role; the decision needs kindness and responsibility together.
Try this today
Name the emotion involved in one difficult decision without judging it.
I honor my emotions and let wisdom guide them.Reflect
Where is emotional attachment making a necessary decision difficult?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘समीक्ष्य’ mean in this verse?
The Gita on confusion, in other chapters
- Verse 2.1 · SanjayaWhen we are most overwhelmed by emotion is precisely when we most need the clear wisdom of a true guide.
- Verse 3.2 · ArjunaWhen a teaching overwhelms you, ask sincerely for the one clear next step instead of drowning in every possibility.
- Verse 16.7Losing the sense of what is right to do and right to avoid is the first symptom of a life slipping into darkness.
- Verse 18.31A passion-clouded mind sees right and wrong but distorts them to fit its desires.
Swipe left for 1.28 · Compassion must be guided by wisdom, not attachment.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 1.27
Who says Bhagavad Gita 1.27, and to whom?
Sanjaya narrates to King Dhritarashtra in verse 1.27, in Chapter 1, Arjuna's Dilemma (Arjuna Vishada Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 1.27 mean?
He also saw fathers-in-law and well-wishers in both armies. Seeing all these relatives standing there, the son of Kunti was deeply moved. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 1.27 for daily life?
Do not suppress emotion, but do not let emotion alone decide dharma. A founder may hesitate to remove an underperforming friend from a key role; the decision needs kindness and responsibility together.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 1.27 mean?
श्वशुरान् — fathers-in-law; सुहृदः — well-wishers / dear companions; सेनयोः उभयोः — in both armies; अपि — also; तान् — them.
Where does verse 1.27 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 27 of 47 in Chapter 1, Arjuna's Dilemma. The next verse is 1.28.