This is the last stop on Arjuna's journey. It is the eighth hub on the path Arjuna's Journey, and the one before it is Delusion Gone: I Will Act. It opens no new verse. It looks at the whole journey at once so that we can find our own road in it.
The answer in one line
Arjuna's road has seven steps: shock, freezing, arguing, asking for help, learning, doubting again and acting. None of them is a fault.
What question this answers
After a heavy blow many people feel broken and wonder what is wrong with them. The question is whether there is a way through. The Gita says there is, and Arjuna is the example.
The seven steps in order
The body speaks first
The blow shows in the body before anything else. Arjuna's limbs give way, his mouth dries and he trembles (Gita 1.28–29). The full account is in Arjuna's Despondency.
Unable to act or decide
Arjuna says he cannot stand (Gita 1.30), and then, "I shall not fight" (Gita 2.9).
A flood of arguments
Next the mind builds a case: what of my people, what of honour (Gita 2.4)? The Lord answers first with the self and then with duty. Those answers are in The Imperishable Self and Duty, Honour and Fear.
Dropping the argument and asking
The turn comes when Arjuna says: I am your student, tell me what is surely good (Gita 2.7). The Gita gives the same advice: ask the one who knows, with humility (Gita 4.34).
Learning by asking
After that Arjuna asks again and again (Gita 3.2), and the Lord answers. These questions are in Arjuna's Questions. Later the Lord tells him to arise and be merely an instrument (Gita 11.33): the work is his, the burden of the whole plan is not. The details are in Merely an Instrument.
Doubt comes back after learning
Arjuna says the mind is very restless (Gita 6.34), and the Lord says practice and detachment hold it (Gita 6.35).
Acting after reflection
At the end Arjuna says the delusion is gone, memory is back, doubt is gone and he will act (Gita 18.73). The choice is his own, because the Lord had said to reflect fully and then do as he wished (Gita 18.63).
Common misunderstandings of the road
The first is that the steps are passed through once and finished. That is not so, because steps return.
The second is that the trembling at the start is weakness. That is not so, because the Gita does not blame him for it.
The third is that being an instrument leaves no choice. That is not so, because the work is yours and only the burden of the fruit is not (Gita 2.47).
Questions people ask
Is it normal to fall apart first? Yes. Arjuna did, and the Gita did not blame him.
Why is asking necessary? Because teaching reaches the mind that is asking.
What if doubt returns? Ask again, listen again and keep practising.
Does "instrument" mean I have no say? No. The Lord said to reflect fully and then do as you wish.
If you have to explain it in thirty seconds
Arjuna's road has seven steps: shock, freezing, arguing, asking for help, learning, doubting again and acting. The body is shaken first, then the mind builds its case. The real turn comes when Arjuna asks as a student. Doubt returns, and practice holds the mind. At the end the decision is his own. Name your step today and take only the next one.
Related hubs: Arjuna's Journey (path) · Delusion Gone: I Will Act (previous) · Arjuna's Despondency · The Final Counsel