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Bhagavad-gītā 1.29

वेपथुश्च शरीरे मे रोमहर्षश्च जायते । गाण्डीवं स्रंसते हस्तात्त्वक्च‍ैव परिदह्यते ॥ २९ ॥
vepathuś ca śarīre me
[vepathush cha shareere me]
roma-harṣaś ca jāyate
[roma-harshash cha jaayate]
gāṇḍīvaṁ sraṁsate hastāt
[gaandeevam sramsate hastaat]
tvak caiva paridahyate
[tvak chaiva paridahyate]
Word-for-word
vepathuḥ — trembling of the body ca — also śarīre — on the body me — my roma - harṣaḥ — standing of hair on end ca — also jāyate — is taking place gāṇḍīvam — the bow of Arjuna sraṁsate — is slipping hastāt — from the hand tvak — skin ca — also eva — certainly paridahyate — is burning .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
vepathuś ca śarīre me
vepathuḥ
trembling of the body
ca
also
śarīre
on the body
me
my
roma-harṣaś ca jāyate
roma - harṣaḥ
standing of hair on end
ca
also
jāyate
is taking place
gāṇḍīvaṁ sraṁsate hastāt
gāṇḍīvam
the bow of Arjuna
sraṁsate
is slipping
hastāt
from the hand
tvak caiva paridahyate
tvak
skin
ca
also
eva
certainly
paridahyate
is burning .
Important Words
  • vepathuḥ — trembling of the body
    *Vepathu* — a tremor, a shaking. From *vep* (to tremble). A classical Sanskrit word for the body's reaction to overwhelming emotion. Also used in Bhakti tradition (in the *aṣṭa-sāttvika-bhāvas*) for the trembling of the body in spiritual ecstasy. Same physical sign, opposite source — Arjuna's *vepathu* here is from fear, but the Gītā will later teach where this same trembling can come from.
  • roma - harṣaḥ — standing of hair on end
    *Roman* (hair) + *harṣa* (joy/thrill). Same compound is used in Vaiṣṇava literature for spiritual rapture (*aṣṭa-sāttvika-bhāva* again). Here it is fear, but Vyāsa is deliberately using a word whose later spiritual register the Gītā-listener will recognize. The body's vocabulary of crisis and of devotion overlap.
  • gāṇḍīvam — the bow of Arjuna
    The named bow — gift of Varuṇa, originally Brahmā's. The whole devic lineage of the bow is summoned in one word. *And it falls.* The verse stages the collapse of cosmic gift in the face of personal attachment.
  • sraṁsate — is slipping
    Middle voice of *sraṁs* — to fall, to slip. The bow is slipping *of its own accord*. Same root as the medieval Vaiṣṇava word *srṁsva* (to release). The grammar is exact: Arjuna is not dropping the bow; the bow is leaving his hand. The instruments themselves are surrendering before he does.
  • paridahyate — is burning
    Passive of *pari-dah* — to burn around, to be consumed by burning. The same root as *dāha* and the Gītā's later word *tapyate* (BG 9.20). Arjuna's skin *is being burned* — passive voice. The fire is acting on him. Crisis is presented as an external agent doing inner work.
My whole body is trembling, my hair is standing on end, my bow Gāṇḍīva is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning.
Classical Sanskrit analysis शास्त्रीय विश्लेषण
How Sanskrit scholars read this verse — split, rearranged, grammar-tagged. For the plain English distilled meaning, jump to Plain meaning below.
Auto-generated study layers — original analysis of the public-domain śloka. Review against a published edition for academic work.
Plain meaning (तात्पर्य · Tātparya)
The list of symptoms continues: shivering, hair standing on end, the bow Gāṇḍīva — symbol of his warrior-identity — sliding from his hand, skin on fire. The slipping bow is the picture of an identity collapsing: he can no longer hold what he is.
Further notes (विवरण · Vivaraṇa)
Gāṇḍīva is the celestial bow gifted to Arjuna by Agni during the Khāṇḍava burning — to hold it is to be Arjuna; for it to slip is for Arjuna to become not-Arjuna. The verse continues the catalogue of sāttvika-bhāvas (involuntary affective responses): vepathu (trembling) and roma-harṣa (horripilation) are two of the canonical eight. Skin-burning (paridahyate) is the fourth. The diagnosis is non-clinical but precisely traditional.
Prose order (अन्वय · Anvaya)
मे शरीरे वेपथुः च रोम-हर्षः च जायते; गाण्डीवं हस्तात् स्रंसते; त्वक् च एव परिदह्यते ।
me śarīre vepathuḥ ca roma-harṣaḥ ca jāyate; gāṇḍīvaṃ hastāt sraṃsate; tvak ca eva paridahyate |
In my body there arise trembling and standing-up of hairs; my Gāṇḍīva slips from my hand; and my skin burns all over.
Word split (पदच्छेद · Padaccheda)
वेपथुः च शरीरे मे रोम-हर्षः च जायते । गाण्डीवं स्रंसते हस्तात् त्वक् च एव परिदह्यते ॥
vepathuḥ ca śarīre me roma-harṣaḥ ca jāyate | gāṇḍīvaṃ sraṃsate hastāt tvak ca eva paridahyate ||
Grammar (व्याकरण · Vyākaraṇa)
SanskritIASTGrammarMeaning
वेपथुः vepathuḥ वेपथु (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular) trembling, shudder
च ca ind. (indeclinable) and
शरीरे śarīre शरीर (n.) loc.sg. (locative singular) in the body
मे me अस्मद् gen.sg. (genitive singular) enclitic my
रोम-हर्षः roma-harṣaḥ रोमन् (n.) + हर्ष (m.) nom.sg. (nominative singular)m., tatpuruṣa cpd. (compound) bristling of hair
जायते jāyate √जन् pres. (present) 3sg.ātm. (ātmanepada / middle voice) arises, is produced
गाण्डीवम् gāṇḍīvam गाण्डीव (n.) nom.sg. (nominative singular) Gāṇḍīva (Arjuna's bow)
स्रंसते sraṃsate √स्रंस् pres. (present) 3sg.ātm. (ātmanepada / middle voice) slips, falls
हस्तात् hastāt हस्त (m.) abl.sg. (ablative singular) from the hand
त्वक् tvak त्वच् (f.) nom.sg. (nominative singular) skin
एव eva ind. (indeclinable), emphatic
परिदह्यते paridahyate परि+√दह् pres. (present) pass. (passive) 3sg. is burned all around
Purport

There are two kinds of trembling of the body, and two kinds of standings of the hair on end. Such phenomena occur either in great spiritual ecstasy or out of great fear under material conditions. There is no fear in transcendental realization. Arjuna’s symptoms in this situation are out of material fear – namely, loss of life. This is evident from other symptoms also; he became so impatient that his famous bow Gāṇḍīva was slipping from his hands, and, because his heart was burning within him, he was feeling a burning sensation of the skin. All these are due to a material conception of life.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
28-29. O Kṛṣṇa, seeing all my relatives and friends gathered to fight, my limbs are weakening, my mouth is drying up, my body is trembling and my hairs are standing on end. My bow is falling from my hand and my skin is burning.
Commentary

Seeing all these known people, my mouth has dried up. The phrase “As I stand here” should be added at the beginning of the sentence. “As I stand here seeing this, my limbs become weak.”

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
28-29. O Kṛṣṇa, seeing all my relatives and friends gathered to fight, my limbs are weakening, my mouth is drying up, my body is trembling and my hairs are standing on end. My bow is falling from my hand and my skin is burning.
Commentary

Having been described as afflicted with lamentation, Arjuna in this verse expresses the same in his speaking. Svajanam, meaning his group of friends, is in the singular case to express a class. Amara Kośa says that svajana is the equivalent of friend or relative. After I, situated here, have seen those relatives assembled, my limbs such as hands and feet are weakening (sīdanti), and my mouth has dried up completely (pariśuṣyati) from fatigue. His hairs were standing on end (roma harṣaḥ) and his body was quivering (vepathuḥ). That his bow was falling from his hand indicated his unsteadiness, and his burning skin indicated his burning heart.

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

COMMON THEME: Signs of compassion (9 points)

S.No

Body part

Sign

1.

Limbs

Quivering

2.

Mouth

Drying up

3.

Whole body

Trembling

4.

Hair

Standing on end

5.

Hands

Gandiva bow slipping

6.

Skin

Burning

7.

Legs

Unable to stand any longer due to impatience

8.

“Forgetting myself and mind reeling” – Due to weakness of the heart

9.

Sees only causes of misfortune

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF SECTION II

Identification with, and attachment to the body disables one from executing his religious duties, which is ultimately to execute Krishna’s will
It is interesting to analyze the cause and effect of Arjuna’s bewilderment
It is brought on by seeing in terms of one’s own self-interest
The result of such vision is fear, loss of composure, indecision, and confusion of moral codes
ARJUNA’S SECOND ARGUMENT — LOSS OF ENJOYMENT (1.31 — 1.35)

REFUTATION:

Lord Krishna refutes this argument in Texts 2.31 – 2.32

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
1.29 Sri Sankaracharya did not comment on this sloka. The commentary starts from 2.10.
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
1.26 - 1.47 Arjuna said - Sanjaya said Sanjaya continued: The high-minded Arjuna, extremely kind, deeply friendly, and supremely righteous, having brothers like himself, though repeatedly deceived by the treacherous attempts of your people like burning in the lac-house etc., and therefore fit to be killed by him with the help of the Supreme Person, nevertheless said, 'I will not fight.' He felt weak, overcome as he was by his love and extreme compassion for his relatives. He was also filled with fear, not knowing what was righteous and what unrighteous. His mind was tortured by grief, because of the thought of future separation from his relations. So he threw away his bow and arrow and sat on the chariot as if to fast to death.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
1.12 1.29 Sri Abhinavgupta did not comment upon this sloka.
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
1.29. My limbs fail and my mouth is parched, my body ivers and my hair stands on end.
Commentary

1.29 सीदन्ति fail? मम my? गात्राणि limbs? मुखम् mouth? च and? परिशुष्यति is parching? वेपथुः shivering? च and? शरीरे in body? मे my? रोमहर्षः horripilation? च and? जायते arises.No Commentary.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
1.29 And there is trembling in my body, and there is horripillation; the Gandiva (bow) slips from the hand and even the skin burns intensely.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
1.29 My limbs fail me and my throat is parched, my body trembles and my hair stands on end.
Related values & verses
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Abhaya (Fearlessness)
Related verses
BG 1.30 BG 1.28 BG 11.24 SB 1.19.7 SB 7.8.19 SB 11.14.23 CC Antya 14.86 CC Madhya 2.15 CC Antya 14.91 BRS 2.3.79 Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.4
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
The body's revolt — quivering, dryness, hair standing on end — signals the limit of bodily strength and the need for a higher resource.
Practical Applications
  • Notice your body's distress signals as messages, not malfunctions.
  • When physical anxiety arises, immediately turn to chanting rather than self-soothing.
  • Acknowledge that bodily strength alone is insufficient for the moral demands of life.
Reflection Questions
  • Where is my body telling me what my mind refuses to admit?
  • What strength beyond the body am I being invited to seek?
Analogy

When even the bow slips from a great archer's hand, it is no longer the archer who is choosing — the body is choosing. The Gāṇḍīva that has never fallen from Arjuna's grip in any war now falls. This is not weakness; this is the body refusing what the mind is not yet ready to refuse.

Stories
The Gāṇḍīva

Arjuna's bow Gāṇḍīva was no ordinary weapon. It was originally Brahmā's, then passed to Prajāpati, then to Indra, then to Soma, then to Varuṇa, and finally to Arjuna — given by Varuṇa at the Khāṇḍava-burning, at Agni's request. Its bowstring could not be cut; its arrows were inexhaustible. Arjuna had vowed to behead anyone who told him to give Gāṇḍīva to another.

And now the bow slips from his hand on its own. The bow that all the gods had handled in turn, that no enemy could break, that Arjuna's own pride was bound to — it falls. Vyāsa is making a precise point: the symbols of strength fail at the moment of dharmic crisis. The Gītā then enters precisely into that gap.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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