Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 1.24

sañjaya uvāca

evam ukto hrishīkeśo

gudākeśena bhārata

senayor ubhayor madhye

sthāpayitvā rathottamam

SYNONYMS

sañjayah uvāca — Sañjaya said; evam — thus; uktah — addressed; hrishīkeśah — Lord Krishna; gudākeśena — by Arjuna; bhārata — O descendant of Bharata; senayoh — of the armies; ubhayoh — both; madhye — in the midst; sthāpayitvā — placing; ratha-uttamam — the finest chariot.

TRANSLATION

Sañjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, having thus been addressed by Arjuna, Lord Krishna drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties.

PURPORT

In this verse Arjuna is referred to as Gudākeśa. Gudākā means sleep, and one who conquers sleep is called gudākeśa. Sleep also means ignorance. So Arjuna conquered both sleep and ignorance because of his friendship with Krishna. As a great devotee of Krishna, he could not forget Krishna even for a moment, because that is the nature of a devotee. Either in waking or in sleep, a devotee of the Lord can never be free from thinking of Krishna's name, form, qualities and pastimes. Thus a devotee of Krishna can conquer both sleep and ignorance simply by thinking of Krishna constantly. This is called Krishna consciousness, or samādhi. As Hrishīkeśa, or the director of the senses and mind of every living entity, Krishna could understand Arjuna's purpose in placing the chariot in the midst of the armies. Thus He did so, and spoke as follows.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness