मां श्रान्तवाहमरयो रथिनो भुविष्ठं न प्राहरन्यदनुभावनिरस्तचित्ताः ॥१७॥
sautye vá¹›taḥ kumatinÄtmada Ä«Å›varo me
yat-pÄda-padmam abhavÄya bhajanti bhavyÄḥ
mÄá¹ Å›rÄnta-vÄham arayo rathino bhuvi-á¹£á¹haá¹
na prÄharan yad-anubhÄva-nirasta-cittÄḥ
I foolishly engaged as my charioteer the Llord, who gives life, whose feet are worshipped by the great souls aspiring for liberation, and by whose influence the enemies on chariots, losing concentration, could not strike me as I stood on the ground with thirsty horses.
Remembering Krsna’s powers in separation, Arjuna’s dasya-bhava appeared. This caused his natural sakhya-bhava to recede. Thus Arjuna sees that he was offensive to engage Krsna as his charioteer and expresses regret in this verse. Sautye means “as a charioteer.†Great souls worship him for liberation (abhavaya). This individual (myself) with ego did not worship him. But listen to the mercy he showed me, who am such an offender. My horses were tired from lack of water when killing Jayadratha. I got down from the chariot, and piercing the ground produced water. At that time the enemies could not attack me, because by his influence their minds lost concentration.
