vyamoh
Bewilderment. A loss of clear understanding.
What we hold dear can become difficult to judge clearly.
Between two armies, Arjuna recognises his family and his teachers. His bow slips from his hand. He questions what victory could be worth, and asks Krishna to teach him: his mind is bewildered concerning dharma.
Elsewhere, Karna tells Krishna why he will remain with Duryodhana. He remembers those who raised him and the commitments that bind him. He also foresees the destruction ahead.
How, then, do we discern what is right when love, loyalty, grief, and pride are involved? The reasons we trust most may be the hardest to question.
Near the close of the Gita, Krishna asks Arjuna to reflect fully on what he has heard before choosing how to act. Arjuna’s understanding returns with the battle still before him.
नष्टो मोहः स्मृतिर्लब्धा त्वत्प्रसादान्मयाच्युत। My delusion has gone; through your grace, Achyuta, I have regained recollection.
Arjuna, Bhagavad Gita 18.73, first half
A closer reflection
Karna’s answer makes the difficulty harder to dismiss. Seeing the harm ahead can leave our sense of obligation intact. To change course may feel like betraying the people who made our life possible.
Arjuna’s answer joins recovered understanding to a willingness to act. That understanding will have to be lived out in the very conflict that overwhelmed him.
Read the Sanskrit sources
The reflection above draws on these passages; it is not a translation of them. The English rendering of the closing quotation is original to this page. Mahabharata references follow the BORI critical edition. The linked Sanskrit texts are hosted by Göttingen’s GRETIL in Roman transliteration.
The Gita passages use मोह and related forms. The exact noun व्यामोह occurs in the Mahabharata passage below.
Bewilderment in grief
एवं ब्रुवन्नेव तदा धृतराष्ट्रोऽम्बिकासुतः।
हतप्रवीरं विध्वस्तं किंचिच्छेषं स्वकं बलम्।
श्रुत्वा व्यामोहमगमच्छोकव्याकुलितेन्द्रियः॥
Dhritarashtra hears of his army’s devastation. Mahabharata 8.4.107–108. Verse 107 is reproduced here.
Arjuna’s question
कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावः
पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसम्मूढचेताः।
यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे
शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम्॥
Bhagavad Gita 2.7. For the encounter with his kin and the slipping bow, see Gita 1.26–32.
Karna’s commitments
वधाद्बन्धाद्भयाद्वापि लोभाद्वापि जनार्दन।
अनृतं नोत्सहे कर्तुं धार्तराष्ट्रस्य धीमतः॥
Karna’s answer to Krishna: Mahabharata 5.139.17. The same chapter recounts his upbringing and obligations.
सर्वेषां तात भूतानां विनाशे समुपस्थिते।
अनयो नयसंकाशो हृदयान्नापसर्पति॥
Krishna’s response: Mahabharata 5.141.44. Karna anticipates the destruction earlier in the chapter, in verses 2–6.
Reflection before action
इति ते ज्ञानमाख्यातं गुह्याद्गुह्यतरं मया।
विमृश्यैतदशेषेण यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु॥
Arjuna’s answer, in full
अर्जुन उवाच।
नष्टो मोहः स्मृतिर्लब्धा त्वत्प्रसादान्मयाच्युत।
स्थितोऽस्मि गतसन्देहः करिष्ये वचनं तव॥
Bhagavad Gita 18.73. Achyuta is a name of Krishna, whom Arjuna addresses.