GITA 1.32

GITA 1.32

Sri Rama rameti rame rame manorame
sahasranama tattulyam rama namam varanane
Aapdam hartaram dataram sarvasampadam 
bhuyo bhuyo namamayam!!
lokabhiramam shri ramam

These slokas tell the greatness of Sri Rama. Sri Rama avatar is one of the best avatars of Sriman Narayana. The two syllables ra and ma will even resurrect a dead person! Ramayana, the story of Sri Rama, is like the elixir of life. Sri Rama and Srirangam are very much related. Sri Ranganatha inside Srirangam temple, was worshiped by Sri Rama, in Ayodhya! Long ago, Sri Ranganatha along with the vimanam (canopy), was in Ayodhya. 

Today's lecture was from the Kodanda Rama sannidhi in the Srirangam temple. On one side of this sannidhi is Sri Paramapadanathan sannidhi. On the West is Chandra pushkarini (temple tank), opposite of which is the Vaikunta vasal. Further West is the sannidhi of Mudal Alwars. Near this sannidhi is Keezha (East) Pattabhi Rama sannidhi, Mela (West) Pattabhi Rama sannidhi and Bhoja Rama sannidhi. Thus, within the Srirangam temple there are many sannidhis. 

  Here the Lord Rama is with Sri Sita , Sri Lakshmana and and Sri Anjaneya in standing posture.[incidentally, today is Punarvasu, the avatara star of Sri Rama]In this sannidhi also is the idol of Sri Kulasekara Alwar.

 He was born as the 6th Alwar, in a place called Tiruvanjikkalam, near Trichur, Kerala. He was a King. He got his daughter, Sri Serakulavalli Nacchiyar, married to Sri Ranganatha! 
All our problems vanish on uttering the Divine name Sri Rama.  In today's sloka there is a connection with Sri Rama's history.
We are to see 34th sloka and first half of sloka 35. Here also Arjuna declines to fight:

acaryah pitarah putras

tathaiva ca pitamahahmatulah svasurah pautrah

syalah sambandhinas tatha

etan na hantum icchami

ghnato ’pi madhusudana

O Madhusudana, when teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and all relatives are ready to give up their lives and properties and are standing before me, then why should I wish to kill them, though I may survive?

Arjuna continues:"Oh! Madusudhana teachers,fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law,grandsons, brothers-in-law and other relatives are all eager to fight and kill"
Acaryah = teachers, pitarah = fathers, putras = sons, pitamahah = grandfathers, matulah = (maternal) uncles, svasurah = fathers-in-law, pautrah = grandsons, syalah = brothers-in-law, sambhandhinas thatha = and relatives, etan = all these people, na hantum icchami = I (Arjuna) do not want to kill, ghnato'pi = even if they want to (kill, Arjuna). Perhaps, we may have to imagine a reply from Sri Krishna that it would be correct, if some of them were friendly with Arjuna, but why not kill those who wanted to kill Arjuna? As a reply to this, Arjuna tells Sri Krishna that he did not desire to kill them, even if they wanted to kill him. 
First Arjuna told that he did not want to kill those relatives. 
Arjuna sees all relatives in the battle field. Whatever relationships one comes across in life are all there and ready to kill each other. Normally, if one comes across another in an unusual position like fighting, one gets shocked. Here they have all come to kill. In such a circumstance if Arjuna kills them it will not be considered as wrong. Even our own criminal laws permit killing a murderer in defence. In dharma shastras also if someone tries to poison or burn or tries to molest one's wife or grabs one's property ( such people are called AtadhAyI in Sanskrit), in defence he can be killed without further enquiry. In Pandava's case, Bheema was poisoned and thrown in the river by Duryodana and company. In the wax bungalow [arakku maaligai] all Pandavas were to be burnt alive and they escaped. The action on Draupathy was atrocious. And, their kingdom was grabbed. So, Arjuna can not be faulted if he kills these people (AthadhAyI) arrayed against him. It will not be considered as sin.  But he is full of mercy and compassion. He is dejected at the sight of his, once close relatives, now ready to kill him. 
Here an episode in Ramayana is worth remembering.Sri Rama on exile comes to Chitrakoota along with Sri Sita and Sri Lakshmana. Chitrakoota is on the border of present Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and is a lovely place. If one wants to enjoy nature and get relaxed, this is the place. During that time, Sri Rama and Sri Sita are sitting in the hermitage. Sri Lakshmana is atop a tree and spots a huge army and people approaching their hermitage and Sri Bharatha is leading them. He climbs down and informs Sri Rama and accuses that while Sri Bharatha's mother Kaikeyi merely drove Sri Rama out of the kingdom, Bharatha was now coming to take away Sri Rama's life. For this Sri Rama replies that Sri Bharatha will never do such a thing as He understood him. But even for an argument He accepted Sri Lakshmana's accusation, Bharatha need not kill Rama to retain the Kingdom for ever, but a mere utterance of his intention will kill Sri Rama. Such were the words of the Lord. He would not bear if those considered in high esteem, act contrary to that. 
                                                        (continued)

GITA 1.31

GITA 1.31

KAvEri viraja SEyam vaikuNTham rangamandiram

Sa VAsudEvO rangEsah pratyaksham paramam padam

This sloka tells about the greatness of Srirangam. This place has been the land where the Lord has been reigning for thousands of years, with the support of devotees. Within Srirangam temple, there are many Secondary sannidhis. Each sannidhi has its own speciality. Today's lecture is from a very old sannidhi called Sri Paramapadanathan Sannidhi. Here the Lord is gracing as He graces in Sri Vaikuntam. All the Ten Alwars also grace from here. At least 1000 years ago, the great Acharya Sri Parasara Bhattar, has mentioned these Ten Alwars gracing from this Sannidhi, in his Sri Rangaraja Sthavam. More than anything else, Sri Andal graces from here, and She is specially decorated during all the Thirty days of Tamil month Margazhi, every year! 

It is a treat to the eyes to view the Lord with all the Alwars and Sri Andal. Therefore, it is special to study Gita from this sannidhi. Now, we will see sloka 33. In the last sloka, we saw that Arjuna told Sri Krishna by calling Him, Govinda, that there was no use in getting victory, kingdom,  happiness thereof and even life , after killing his relatives. 

The name Govinda has special significance. Tondaradipodi Alwar says in a pasuram in his Tirumalai, that Sri Ranganatha is mad after us. He yearns for us to utter at least one of His Divine names so that He could carry us to His Paramapadam or Vaikuntam. There the Lord is seated with one leg folded and the other stretched. On His right is seated Sri Sri Devi and to His left are seated Sri Bhu Devi and Sri Neela Devi. If we can utter His Three syllable Divine name, that is Go-vin-da, He is ready to confer us Vaikuntam. But Alwar does not explicitly mention the name Govinda in his pasuram. Because, anything that is not exposed, will be attractive! If we take the prasad offered concealed in our upper garment, curiosity of others will be maximum! That is why Alwar simply mentioned Three syllable Divine name and left it for our curiosity. All pilgrims going to Tirumala, chant the name Govinda and climb the hill! Arjuna addresses Sri Krishna with that great name! 

Go means in Sanskrit, land. It also means cow. So, Govinda means, Who has Land or cows. Arjuna calls Sri Krishna as Govinda, hinting that He wanted to protect all the lives on the land, while Arjuna is to fight and kill his relatives! Also, Arjuna hints that Sri Krishna wanted to get good name by protecting even cows, while Arjuna should earn a bad name by killing his Acharya and relatives. 

Now, the 33rd sloka:

yesham arthe kanksitam no

rajyam bhogah sukhani ca 

ta ime ’vasthita yuddhe

pranams tyaktva dhanani ca

when all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed in this battlefield

Nah = to us, yesham arte = for whom, rajyam = kingdom, bhogah = (Royal) pleasures, sukhani ca = and happiness,  kanksitam = these are desired, ta ime yuddhe = in this battle, avastita = arrayed (against Arjuna), tyaktva = (ready to) sacrifice, pranams = their lives, dhanani ca = and their wealth. Arjuna feels that the Kingdom and happiness, he wants to acquire in this battle, are all meant for his relatives and teachers. But the very same people are assembled to fight with him and are ready to sacrifice their lives in the battle. There is a saying in Sanskrit- sariram artham pranancha tat gurubyo nivedayat - body, wealth and life are to be dedicated to our guru. This is a noble thought. We should live for others and not for ourselves. Nature gives everything for others. We can learn this from trees, river and animals. Arjuna thought that if he got the Kingdom, it could please Bheeshma and Drona; but the same Bheeshma and Drona are in the opposite side to fight with him. We toil through out the day to earn. With that earning, we want to be happy with our kith and kin. 

                                                                             (continued)

GITA 1.30

GITA 1.30

The number of Sri Vishnu temples is countless. Of these 108 temples are considered important. Srirangam is considered numero uno among them. It is considered as the root temple. If Srirangam prospers, all temples will prosper. 
adiyargal vaazha aranga nagar vaazha saadgopan thandamizh nool vaazha
kadal soozhndha mannulagam vaazha
manavala mamuniye innum oru nootrandu irum!
If the World has to prosper, Srirangam has to prosper! Srirangam has the unique distinction of having been praised by all the 10 Alwars. We are studying Gita from Srirangam. 
In the last 31st sloka, Arjuna told Sri Krishna that he saw no good in killing his own people in the battle. Now the 32nd sloka. The reason for this sloka is that if Arjuna did not fight, he could not be victorious. Without victory, Kingdom can not be acquired. Without Kingdom, Arjuna can not enjoy life. So, now Arjuna says that he did not want victory, and the consequent Kingdom and pleasure, after killing his own kith and kin. Now, the 32nd sloka: 

na kankse vijayam krishna

na ca rajyam sukhani ca 

kim no rajyena govinda

kim bhogair jivitena va

nor can I, my dear Krsna, desire any subsequent victory, kingdom, or happiness.O Govinda, of what avail to us are kingdoms, happiness or even life itself

Arjuna continues " [ after killing my own kinsman and friends] I do not desire for victory, kingdom, or happiness. Oh Govinda! what use is there of such a kingdom , pleasure or even life itself"
Vijayam = victory, na kankse = (I, Arjuna, do) not desire, na ca rajyam = and not kingdom, sukhani ca = (consequent) happiness also. Because for the reason sated in the previous sloka. That is by killing his own relatives, Arjuna does not desire victory nor kingdom nor happiness thereof. Govinda = Hey! Govinda!, nah = to us, kim rajyena = what use of kingdom, kim bhogaih = what use (consquent) pleasant experience, jivitena va = even by living? What avail of kingdom or happiness thereof or by living itself? Asks Arjuna. He does not desire kingdom and happiness and even his own life, over the dead bodies of his kin. This is a great character. We have to always think at the cost of what, we are likely to achieve a result. At any cost achieve something is a wrong notion. 
There are three broad categories of people in this world. Some want to live at the cost or destruction of others. Some others are there who will let others live and they also live. There are few more who will not mind their destruction to make others live. They are respectively bad, average and good - in Sanskrit adama, madyama and utthama -types. Practically we can see in our lives examples of these types. A mother scorpion gives birth to young ones .All these come out of the mother's body by bursting the back of the mother, in the process the mother dies. They live at the cost of their mother.
In the case of a cow we feed them and we get milk and both we and the cows live. While the candle and sandalwood represent the third category. While burning and giving us light, the candle gets destroyed. Similarly, to provide fragrance, the sandalwood is destroyed. In fact it provides the fragrance even to the sharp  cutting edge of the axe, as the sandalwood is cut. Just as sandalwood is rare so also such good people are rare to come across. So in life one should identify and move with them accordingly. We should never go near people who try to flatter and entice us with sweet words but are scheming to live by destroying us.Though the relationship or friendship will continue we should be careful as to what extent we move with them. Arjuna sees no good by destroying his own relatives and friends. He was put to great ordeals and in spite of them, he has the superior quality of compassion for them. This is a noble dharma. We should never think or speak ill of others. For this, we should ensure that our children listen to good things always. By doing so, those good things will get founded in their minds and will help in making them good citizens. Never we should ever think of living at others cost. We should choose people to be friendly with. Here Arjuna addresses Sri Krishna as Govinda and we will see in the next lecture why he addresses so.
                                                        (continued)

GITA 1.29

GITA 1.29

"vede pourusham, dharma shastre manavam, purane vaishnavam,  bharathe bhagavat gita"

So goes a saying which means that of the so many branches and mantras in Vedas, it is Sri Purushsooktham the most important and similarly, in various Dharma shastras,it is Sri Manu shastra, in the 18 puranas it is Sri Vishnu Puranam and in the 125,000 slokas and 18 parvas with number of chapters in Mahabharatha, it is Bhagavat Gita ,  most important.
We are at the scene where Arjuna is worried at the sight of his relatives to fight. A compassionate Arjuna is worried to kill his kin in the battle. Arjuna laments that on seeing the relatives, his skin was burning and developed goose-bumps. Arjuna says that he saw bad omens. So far we have seen upto the First half of sloka 31. Today's lecture is the second half of sloka 31.:

na ca sreyo ’nupasyami

hatva sva-janam ahave

I do not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle

Ahave = in the battle, hatva = by killing, sva-janam = my own people, anupasyami = do not see, sreya = good. Arjuna continues : Hey Keshava! I do not see any good coming by killing my own relatives. Here he addresses Sri Krishna as Keshava. Keshava is an important name of the Lord Sriman Narayana. Mere utterance of this name will abolish all the sins one had accumulated. In a pasuram in Tiruvaimozhi, while adoring Sri Padmanabhaswamy of Thiruvananthapuram[Trivandrum], Sri Nammalwar says 'kesava ena kedum idarellam..'.In this temple the Lord is reclining on Anantha, the serpent. It is unique here that the garba graha -sanctus sanctorum- has three doors. From the first we can worship His Face, from the middle one, we can worship His stomach with the Lotus and from the third gate we can worship His feet. All our sins will be destroyed by mere chanting of His name Keshava. According to Alwar, one time mention of Keshava, will destroy all our sins. How can, by mentioning once Keshava, all sins are destroyed? It is like the darkness in a den for hundreds of years, is driven out at the instant, a lamp is lit! It should not be misunderstood, here, that we continue with our sinful activities, and utter the name Keshava, every time! It means that while uttering the name Keshava, we do it with sincerity and love and resolve not to repeat the sins. 
In Vishnu Purana, Sage Parashara says about a jeevetma, going after committing many sins. Tirumangai Alwar in a hymn praises the name Keshava, saying it will wipe out all the sins accumulated over so many births. For each type of sin a particular hell or Narakh is indicated and the Alwar says that his sins entitled him to all the types. But Yama, mere sight of whom is so dreadful, comes and puts his hands on the shoulder of the Alwar and says could he not mention even once the name of Sri Kesava and avoided these punishments. That is Keshava means, in Sanskrit, that which annihilates klesha or sorrow.
Tondaradipodi Alwar says that it was very sweet for him to mention His names like Achyuta or the Toddler in Ayarpadi (Gokulam), and he did not want even Vaikuntam, if only he could remain in Srirangam and chant those sweet names! We should chant Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam and derive benefits. We need not worry if we do not know the meaning of each of those names. But benefits will accrue. It is like a child touching fire and getting hurt. Fire has the nature to burn whatever touches fire, irrespective of whether the person touching it knows about nature of fire or not. 
Keshava also means the person having curly, black and thick locks of hair on the head.
It also means He Who killed the demon Keshi who came in the disguise of a horse to kill Sri BalaKrishna.
Lord Parama Siva says Sri Narayana commands Bramha[ka] and Iswara, that is himself [Isa] and so He is Keshava [ka+isa +va].
By addressing Sri Krishna as Sri Keshava, Arjuna, indirectly, is praying to end his present distress.
                                               (continued)

GITA 1.28

GITA 1;28

Kara-Aravindena Pada-Aravindam
Mukha-Aravinde Vi-Niveshay-Antam |
Vattasya Patrasya Putte Shayaanam
Baalam Mukundam Manasaa Smaaraami ||

This sloka pictures Him as lying on a tender banyan tree leaf, as a small child holding the feet by His hands and the mouth tasting the toe. His feet are like lotus, His hands are lotus and His face and Mouth are lotus. Such a Bunch of lotus is delivering the Gita to Arjuna.

Today the First half of sloka 31 was explained:

nimittani ca pasyami

viparitani keshava

I foresee only evil, O killer of the Kesi demon.

Kesava = Hey! Sri Krishna!, nimittani ca psyami = I see omens. viparitani = bad ones.
Here, Arjuna further tells: Oh! Keshava, i see all bad omens.
Seeing that his dear ones have all assembled to fight, Arjuna feels that it is mistrust [in Tamil it is nambikkai droham] and so his mind swirls and body trembles. Normally, if someone betrays us, we get angry and would like to take revenge. But here, Arjuna feels sorry at the sight of his relatives and friends ready to fight him. Filled with mercy, Arjuna feels distress in seeing his relatives joining Duryodana to fight with Arjuna. Instead of taking revenge at the betrayal, Arjuna wanted to abandon fight out of distress. This happens to all when something contrary to our belief happens. He notices some bad omens or signs occurring, heralding bad things.

Unusual howling of fox or anticlockwise circling by birds are all to be noticed to be bad omens. Animals and birds observe nature closely and predict. In the recent tsunami havoc also, animals were able to know the disaster earlier and they escaped to safer places while human beings failed to notice those indications, as we are going away from nature.  This does not mean one should lead a beast's life, but we should try to respect mother nature and preserve for our own benefits. 

It may be thought that Arjuna feared defeat and so he felt bad omens. But Arjuna is ever victorious and with Sri Krishna as his Associate, where is the question of defeat for him?
 In Ramayana, Vibheeshana cautions Ravana saying that right from the time Ravana abducted Sri Sita and imprisoned Her in Ashoka forest, he saw lots of ill omen indicating annihilation of the Rakshasa community and advises his brother to release Sri Sita back to Sri Rama. So noticing nature for such messages is good. 

The lecturer emphasised the difference between noticing natural indications and irrational beliefs [mooda nambikkai].If a lady becomes a widow, we should not treat her so badly. We should understand that it was not her fault that she lost her husband and she like any sanyasin lives a secluded life and so she should be given the same respects as we give to sanyasins. They also should be invited to functions like anyone else. To observe omens, dose not mean we resort to everything for such indications. Also resorting to astrology for everything is bad. Astrology is a great science and is regarded as Vedas' auxiliary.  Our ancestors have developed that as a science and we are able to know eclipse etc accurately But referring to that for every small thing is irrational.  We tend to reject some stars as not auspicious. How can in God's creations such discrimination be possible? So all 27 nakshathrams are good and all the seven days of the week are good.

                                                            (continued)

GITA 1.27

GITA 1.27

Today's sloka is latter half of 29th and first half of sloka 30:

gandivam sramsate hastat

tvak caiva paridahyate

na ca saknomy avasthatum

bhramativa ca me manah 

My bow Gandiva is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning.I am now unable to stand here any longer. I am forgetting myself, and my mind is reeling.

Today's lecture is from the Thousand Pillar Mantapam. This is the place where Raapathu (Nights Ten) or Tiruvaimozhi Tirunal festival is celebrated annually. Here, Lord Sri Namperumal listens to Tiruvaimozhi of Nammalwar, with all Alwars in attendance. This festival has been conducted for so many centuries that each pillar can tell so many stories. We will continue with Gita lecture from here.
The First Chapter details Arjuna's sorrow. In the last lecture we saw Arjuna was so much distressed to see his relatives assembled to fight, that his body trembled and face dried up. These are Natural for many persons. But what we are going to see today, is something unusual for Arjuna. Gandivam sramsate hastat = (Arjuna's bow) Gandivam slips from hand, tvak caiva paridahyate = skin is burning, na ca saknomy avasthitum = unable to stand, bhramativa ca me manah = my (Arjuna's) mind is reeling.   

Arjuna continues: My bow Gandeevam is slipping and my skin is burning . I am unable to remain in this chariot and my mind is reeling. If we know who Arjuna was, we can realize how serious was his state of mind and body.
When one thinks of bow or archery, immediately  the names of Sri Rama, Sri Parasurama,Bheeshma, Dronacharya, Arjuna and Karna come to mind, as they were all great archers. Such a hero feels that his bow is slipping. Gandeevam comes from the word Gand which means knot. The bow had many knots for grip and so in spite of it, with such a troubled state of mind, the bow was slipping from his hands. During his student days, Arjuna was practicing his archery skills, in the forest, in the night, with none near him. Seeing his dedication and fearlessness, his teacher Drona blessed him to become best archer on the Earth.

The bow of Arjuna is not an ordinary one . It was gifted by Soma Deva  to Varuna who gifted it to Agni from whom Arjuna got it while helping Agni in burning down the Kandava  forest . Normally, no warrior would that easily leave grip of his bow. In the Ramayana war, Sri Rama destroys the chariot and horses of Ravana and when Ravana stands only with a bow and arrows , Sri Rama breaks the bow and Ravana feels highly humiliated. Similarly, Sri Parashurama is humbled and He gifts away His Vishnu Dhanus to Sri Rama in acknowledgement of defeat. Arjuna has a name Savyasachi, which means he can hold the bow in either hand and fight. Such a person was unable to hold the bow.Much earlier, Drona calls his sishyas Aswattama, Duryodana , Arjuna etc. when they were boys learning archery from Drona, and asks them to aim a bird sitting on a tree. Duryodana first comes and when he was about to shoot, Drona stops and asks whether he saw the tree, Duryodana says yes, and further says he saw the bird, its feet etc. Drona asks him to keep away and asks others, one by one, what they saw when aiming. Everyone replied they saw only the bird and its feet etc. Drona asks them also to keep away and finally comes to Arjuna and asks him what he saw while aiming. Arjuna says he saw only the eye of the bird and nothing else and Drona pats him as the superior hero as he fully concentrates on the object and nothing else distracts. Such was the prowess of Arjuna.
Much before the war began, Arjuna in some context makes a vow that he might tolerate anyone if Arjuna was ridiculed but never if his Gandeevam was made fun of and he would kill such a person whoever he might be. After the war started and after a couple of days when the Pandava army was destroyed by the other side, Yudhishtra was very much annoyed and blamed Arjuna that he was not up to mark and ridiculed Gandeevam. Arjuna became very furious and as per his vow he wanted to kill his elder brother for making remarks about his bow. Sri Krishna saw this and wanting to end the feud amicably, asked Arjuna to address his elder brother with disrespect [like tum instead of aap in Hindi] and told it was equivalent to killing. This is a sookshma [subtle] Dharma that by disrespecting elders and great persons, one almost kills them.

                                                    (continued)

GITA 1.27

GITA 1.27

srimAn vEnkatanATHArya kavithArkika kesari |

vEdhAnthAchArya varyOmE sanniDHaththAm sadhAhrudi ||

Sri Vedanta Desikan's real name was Sri Venkata Nathan. He has written Tatparya Chandrika, a commentary on Gita. On the basis of this we have been studying Gita. He lived in Srirangam.
From the house of Sri Vedantha Desika in North Uttira street, today's lecture was given. Desika was born in 1267 and lived for 100 years. He made 28 sthothrams on various deities besides drama, kavya and a number of works on sidhantha. His work on Gita is called Tatparya Chandrika and forms basis for these lectures.While living in this house, Sri Desika used to observe unchavrutti  that is he used to get alms from houses and use them as food for living. This was the way great people lived in those days. They never used to stock, but got the necessities for that day's living from others. One day while he was going for alms, some people with either to test him or to endow him with some wealth, offered gold along with the grains. But back in his house, he asked his wife, to throw away those 'unwanted' gold as though they were worms in the grains! Such was his detachment to worldly matters.  Paying our respects to that great Acharya we continue.

Today's sloka is the latter half of sloka 28 and full sloka 29:

arjuna uvaca

drstvemam sva-janam krishna

yuyutsum samupasthitam

sidanti mama gatrani

mukham ca parisusyati

vepathus ca sarire me

roma-harsas ca jayate

Arjuna said: My dear Krsna, 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.My whole body is trembling, and my hair is standing on end. 

Arjuna now speaks: Krishna = Hey! Krishna, imam = here, samupasthitam = where all have assembled, sva-janam = my relatives, drstva = (I am) seeing, yuyutsum = eager to fight.
Arjuna finds all his relatives and friends assembled. Normally such assembly will be for some happy occasion and people will be glad to be among the gathering. But here they have assembled to fight with each other and so he is saddened.
He addresses as Krishna and not by any other name now. Krishna in Sanskrit ,by splitting the word Krishi+ na, means person who pleases earth. Krishi is farming or ploughing. By doing this, we harvest and live happily. So also Krishna makes those living on this earth happy. So, He should dispel the worries of Arjuna and make him happy. Krishna also means dark blue or black which was the complexion of Sri Krishna. Andal says in her Nachiyar Thirumozhi ' Kannan ennum karundeivam..' Since He was not appearing before Her, out of disgust, she says she wanted to forget Him but she is unable to forget the black colour.
Black is considered beautiful. A black cloud brings happiness as it will rain and after exhausting its water content it turns white. So normally a person with good compassion and sympathy is likened to a rain bearing black cloud. Such a cloud does not rain for a particular section or persons, but for the entire area without any discrimination. So also good people do not discriminate on the basis of caste or creed. So also God is. Sri Krishna is always black, because He has compassion always for us. 
Sidanti mama gatrani = (on seeing his relatives assembled to fight, Arjuna's) body is paining, mukham ca parisusyati = face is gloomy, vepathus ca sarire me = my (Arjuna's) body is trembling, roma-harsas ca jayate = (Arjuna) has goose-bumps (horripilation). Arjuna is a brave warrior and he fears none to tremble. He has control over sleep. So, something more powerful is making him to tremble. That is his compassion. That has agitated his mind, on seeing his relatives assembled to fight. 
Child Bhakta, Prahalada was sent to the school on the first day; but refused to go on second day. Thinking it was the usual habit of children, his father asked him, why Prahalada did not want to go to school. Prahalada replied that on the First day, they taught in the school, to hate Devas and love Asuras. He said that he did not find it acceptable to hate anyone. All were dear to him. Thinking some people are not belonging to us, is limiting ourselves.Because of this Universal feeling only, Arjuna is worried, in spite of many atrocities of Duryodana.
                                              (continued)