Chapter 1, Verse 27
śvaśuran suhṛdaścaiva senayor-ubhayor api
tān samīkșya sa kaunteyaḥ
sarvān bandhūn avasthitān
kṛpaya paraya'viṣṭho
vişīdann idam abravīt
Seeing all these kinsmen standing thus arrayed, Kaunteya (Arjuna), invaded by great pity, uttered this in sadness and dejection:
Arjuna was very sad and went into his weakness. As a warrior, one can't go into one's weakness. Imagine that you are in a war, everybody is there on the battlefield in front of you, and you just sit and cry. It is like going to a doctor and saying, "I am sick. I have this terrible illness. Please help me!" Imagine that the doctor just sits and cries with you. What will happen? You'll be shocked! You'll become more depressed. Your illness will get worse! Arjuna saw that many people would die. He felt pity and his heart pained him. He was overtaken by emotions which would stop him from fighting. So he became cowardly, very soft. If you are soft, you can't help anyone; you have to be strong. Here Krishna reminded Arjuna that he would not move forward if he was weak.
Yet Krishna allowed this feeling to awaken in Arjuna because He was purifying him. He was showing him, "Look at this clearly. It is not outside; it is inside of you. These people who you see outside of you, why do you feel this connection with them? Because they are inside your heart. These negative qualities that you see outside, in other people, they are not outside: they are inside of you. If you want to transcend them, you have to dig them out from the inside. You have to remove them from deep within. Not just superficially, by the mind saying, "Ah yes, I have changed, it is finished! Good! Now, God loves me! Ah, God loves me! I love God!" No, it doesn't work like that! Because loving God, has to come from inside. For Him to manifest Himself, for Him to come to you, to run to you, a great amount of sincerity, strength and power has to be there!
Bhagavad Gita
