Sanskrit
तं तथा कृपयाऽऽविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकुलेक्षणम् । विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदनः ॥
taṃ tathā kṛpayāviṣṭam aśrupūrṇākulekṣaṇam viṣīdantam idaṃ vākyam uvāca madhusūdanaḥ
Translation
To him thus with pity overcome, with smarting brimming eyes, despondent, Madhusûdana spake these words.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Sanjaya — the narrator, gifted with far-sight so he can report the battle to the blind King Dhritarashtra — describes what he has just witnessed: Arjuna collapsed in grief, and Krishna (Madhusudana, “slayer of the demon Madhu”) about to speak. This single verse is the hinge of the entire text: everything from here through the end of chapter 18 is Krishna’s response to exactly this moment.