Speaker: Arjuna
Verses 37 to 38 are read together as one text.
यद्यप्येते न पश्यन्ति लोभोपहतचेतसः ।
कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं मित्रद्रोहे च पातकम् ॥३७॥
कथं न ज्ञेयमस्माभिः पापादस्मान्निवर्तितुम् ।
कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं प्रपश्यद्भिर्जनार्दन ॥३८॥
yady apy ete na paśyanti
lobhopahata-cetasaḥ
kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṁ doṣaṁ
mitra-drohe ca pātakam
kathaṁ na jñeyam asmābhiḥ
pāpād asmān nivartitum
kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṁ doṣaṁ
prapaśyadbhir janārdana
Word for word (synonyms)
- yadi
- if
- api
- certainly
- ete
- they
- na
- do not
- paśyanti
- see
- lobha
- greed
- upahata
- overpowered
- cetasaḥ
- the hearts
- kula-kṣaya
- in killing the family
- kṛtam
- done
- doṣam
- fault
- mitra-drohe
- quarreling with friends
- ca
- also
- pātakam
- sinful reactions
- katham
- why
- na
- shall not
- jñeyam
- know this
- asmābhiḥ
- by us
- pāpāt
- from sins
- asmāt
- ourselves
- nivartitum
- to cease
- kula-kṣaya
- the destruction of a dynasty
- kṛtam
- by so doing
- doṣam
- crime
- prapaśyadbhiḥ
- by those who can see
- janārdana
- O Kṛṣṇa
Translation
O Janārdana, although these men, overtaken by greed, see no fault in killing one's family or quarreling with friends, why should we, with knowledge of the sin, engage in these acts?
Defined in the Gītā
Knowledge
What is knowledge?
Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.
Purport
A kṣatriya is not supposed to refuse to battle or gamble when he is so invited by some rival party. Under such obligation, Arjuna could not refuse to fight because he was challenged by the party of Duryodhana. In this connection, Arjuna considered that the other party might be blind to the effects of such a challenge. Arjuna, however, could see the evil consequences and could not accept the challenge. Obligation is actually binding when the effect is good, but when the effect is otherwise, then no one can be bound. Considering all these pros and cons, Arjuna decided not to fight.
What this verse teaches
Third reason – Fear of sinful reactions
- Gita for Life
- Fear
Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 1
- Bhagavad-gītā 1.37–39 1973-07-27
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.