Overcome by the greatest compassion, despairing, he spoke this. Arjuna said: Seeing, oh Kṛṣṇa, these kinsmen assembled here, eager to fight

Sañjaya’s narration introduces the emotional collapse with technical Sāṅkhya terms: parayā kṛpayā (by supreme compassion, parā kṛpā) and āviṣṭaḥ (overcome, invaded, dominated by a guṇa). Arjuna’s breakdown is not weakness but excess of empathy — he is viṣīdan (despairing, decaying), but from compassion.

Arjuna uses for the first time the simple name kṛṣṇa (the dark one, dark-skinned), not an epithet. It is the human, vulnerable call of friend to friend. Sva-janam (his own people, kinsmen) is the key word: they are no longer enemies but sva (own, of the same clan).

The repetition of yuyutsu (desirous of fighting) between verses 23 and 28 shows how the same reality acquires different meaning according to perception.