Bhagavad Gita 1.21
Spoken by Sanjaya · Verse 21 of 47
अर्जुन उवाच: सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये रथं स्थापय मेऽच्युत॥
arjuna uvāca: senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṃ sthāpaya me 'cyuta
Before fighting, Arjuna wants to see — a warrior who must look before he acts.
Word by word (4)
- senayor ubhayoḥ madhye
- — between both armies / in the middle of the two forces
- ratham sthāpaya
- — place the chariot / station the chariot
- me
- — for me / my
- acyuta
- — O Achyuta — Krishna (the immovable / the unfailing one) · 'Achyuta' = one who does not fall / the infallible. Arjuna uses this name for Krishna here — one who cannot slip or fail. He trusts his charioteer completely at this moment.
Arjuna said to Krishna: 'O Achyuta — you who never fail — drive my chariot to the space between both armies. I want to see who I am about to fight.'
A modern analogy
A surgeon pausing before an operation to review the patient's face one more time. A negotiator asking for a brief recess to survey the room before the final round begins. Arjuna's request is not timidity — it is a soldier who needs to see the full picture before he acts.
Take with you
- Before major irreversible action, seek a position of full visibility — go to where you can see both sides clearly.
- Arjuna names Krishna 'Achyuta' (the infallible) — choosing your guides wisely is the first act of strategic wisdom.
- Wanting to see before acting is not weakness; it is the quality of a leader who takes the full weight of their decisions seriously.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Krishna does as Arjuna asks — immediately, without question or hesitation.
I wish to know prakṛti and puruṣa, the field and its knower, knowledge and the Knowable — O Keśava!
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
Who measures others' joy and pain by the standard of their own — seeing the same everywhere — is the supreme yogi.
Past practice carries the yogi forward involuntarily — even the yoga-inquirer surpasses the Vedic ritualist.
Verse 21 of 47 · back to Chapter 1