TEXT 28

Texte

Text

arjuna uvāca
dṛṣṭvemaṁ sva-janaṁ kṛṣṇa
yuyutsuṁ samupasthitam
sīdanti mama gātrāṇi
mukhaṁ ca pariśuṣyati

Synonyms

arjunaḥ uvāca: Arjuna dit; dṛṣṭvā: après avoir vu; imam: tous ses; sva-janam: proches; kṛṣṇa: ô Kṛṣṇa; yuyutsum: tous animés d’un sentiment belliqueux; samupasthitam: présents; sīdanti: tremblent; mama: mes; gātrāṇi: membres; mukham: bouche; ca: aussi; pariśuṣyati: se dessèche.

arjunaḥ uvāca — Arjuna said; dṛṣṭvā — after seeing; imam — all these; sva-janam — kinsmen; kṛṣṇa — O Kṛṣṇa; yuyutsum — all in a fighting spirit; samupasthitam — present; sīdanti — are quivering; mama — my; gātrāṇi — limbs of the body; mukham — mouth; ca — also; pariśuṣyati — is drying up.

Translation

Arjuna dit: Cher Kṛṣṇa, de voir les miens animés d’une flamme guerrière, mes membres tremblent et ma bouche se dessèche.

Arjuna said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, seeing my friends and relatives present before me in such a fighting spirit, I feel the limbs of my body quivering and my mouth drying up.

Purport

L’être qui éprouve une dévotion véritable pour le Seigneur a toutes les qualités des saints et des devas. Inversement, l’être qui n’est pas illuminé par cet amour est dépourvu de telles qualités, quels que soient les mérites d’ordre matériel que lui ont conférés sa culture et son éducation. Maintenant qu’il a vu ses parents et amis sur le champ de bataille, Arjuna ressent une grande compassion pour eux qui ont décidé de lutter les uns contre les autres. Il éprouve depuis le début beaucoup de sympathie pour ses propres soldats, mais voilà qu’il s’apitoie sur le sort des guerriers du camp ennemi dont il prévoit la mort imminente. À cette pensée, ses membres tremblent et sa bouche se dessèche. Il s’étonne de les voir aussi belliqueux. Pratiquement tous ceux qui sont venus combattre sont du même sang que lui. Cela bouleverse un dévot aussi bienveillant qu’Arjuna, et bien qu’on ne le mentionne pas ici, il est facile d’imaginer que non seulement ses membres tremblent et sa bouche se dessèche, mais encore qu’il pleure de pitié. Ces symptômes ne sont certes pas des signes de faiblesse. Il s’agit plutôt de la tendresse de cœur d’un pur bhakta. Le Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.18.12) dit à ce sujet:

Any man who has genuine devotion to the Lord has all the good qualities which are found in godly persons or in the demigods, whereas the nondevotee, however advanced he may be in material qualifications by education and culture, lacks in godly qualities. As such, Arjuna, just after seeing his kinsmen, friends and relatives on the battlefield, was at once overwhelmed by compassion for them who had so decided to fight amongst themselves. As far as his soldiers were concerned, he was sympathetic from the beginning, but he felt compassion even for the soldiers of the opposite party, foreseeing their imminent death. And while he was so thinking, the limbs of his body began to quiver, and his mouth became dry. He was more or less astonished to see their fighting spirit. Practically the whole community, all blood relatives of Arjuna, had come to fight with him. This overwhelmed a kind devotee like Arjuna. Although it is not mentioned here, still one can easily imagine that not only were Arjuna’s bodily limbs quivering and his mouth drying up, but he was also crying out of compassion. Such symptoms in Arjuna were not due to weakness but to his softheartedness, a characteristic of a pure devotee of the Lord. It is said therefore:

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā
sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ
harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā
mano-rathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ

« L’homme qui éprouve une dévotion constante pour la Personne Suprême possède toutes les qualités des devas. Celui qui n’en ressent aucune, par contre, n’a que des atouts matériels de peu de prix, car il erre sur le plan mental et subit la fascination de l’énergie matérielle. »

“One who has unflinching devotion for the Personality of Godhead has all the good qualities of the demigods. But one who is not a devotee of the Lord has only material qualifications that are of little value. This is because he is hovering on the mental plane and is certain to be attracted by the glaring material energy.” (Bhāg. 5.18.12)