Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 1/Verse 30

Chapter 1/Verse 30

गाण्डीवं स्रंसते हस्तात्त्वक्चैव परिदह्यते ।

न च शक्नोम्यवस्थातुं भ्रमतीव च मे मनः ॥१-३०॥

gāṇḍīvaṃ sraṃsate hastāttvakcaiva paridahyate ।

na ca śaknomyavasthātuṃ bhramatīva ca me manaḥ

॥1-30॥

Gāṇḍīva slips from my hand and verily my skin is afire and I am not able to stand and my mind seems to wander.

gāṇḍīvam (stem form: gāṇḍīva) (neuter, nominative, singular) = Gāṇḍīva (the name of Arjuna's bow)

sraṃsate (verb root: sraṃs) (present tense, ātmanepada, 3rd person, singular) = it slips

hastāt (stem form: hasta) (masculine, ablative, singular) = from hand

tvac (stem form: tvac) (feminine, nominative, singular) = skin

ca (conjunction) (indeclinable) = and

eva (indeclinable) =  verily (emphatic particle, emphasizes preceding word)

paridahyate (verb root: dah) (pari + dahyate) (present tense, ātmanepada, 3rd person, singular) = it completely burns (is afire)

na (adverb) (indeclinable) = not

ca (conjunction) (indeclinable) = and

śaknomi (verb root: śak) (present tense, parasmaipada, 1st person, singular) = I am able

avasthātum (verb root: sthā) (ava + sthātum) (infinitive) (indeclinable) = to stand

bhramati (present tense, parasmaipada, 3rd person, singular) = it wanders

iva (indeclinable) =  seems to

ca (conjunction) (indeclinable) = and

me (pronoun, 1st person, genitive, singular) = my

manas (stem form: manas) (neuter, nominative, singular) = mind

One particular point that struck me is the part of the verse detailing that Arjuna's "skin is afire". From my real life experiences when I felt deep anxiety or elation, I felt more like I got a mini-hot flash. I feel that the translators have avoided using the word "hot flash" given it is typically used to describe a symptom of menopause, a female condition.  And "skin is afire" is more poetic than the contemporary sounding "hot flash".