Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 1: Arjuna's Despair
Bhagavad Gita 1.28
कृपया परयाविष्टो विषीदन्निदमब्रवीत् ।
दृष्ट्वेमं स्वजनं कृष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम् ॥
kṛpayā parayāviṣṭo viṣīdannidamabravīt | dṛṣṭvemaṃ svajanaṃ kṛṣṇa yuyutsuṃ samupasthitam ||
was overcome by deep compassion and, in sorrow, said this. Arjuna said: Krishna, seeing my own people standing here eager to fight,
Modern context
The word that undoes Arjuna is 'my own people'. His compassion is real and it is to his credit. But it reaches only those he calls his own; the thousands of ordinary soldiers do not appear in his grief. The Gita will honour the feeling and question how far it extends.