Speaker: Arjuna
अहो बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम् ।
यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यताः ॥४४॥
aho bata mahat pāpaṁ
kartuṁ vyavasitā vayam
yad rājya-sukha-lobhena
hantuṁ sva-janam udyatāḥ
Word for word (synonyms)
- ahaḥ
- alas
- bata
- how strange it is
- mahat
- great
- pāpam
- sins
- kartum
- to perform
- vyavasitāḥ
- decided
- vayam
- we
- yat
- so that
- rājya
- kingdom
- sukha-lobhena
- driven by greed for royal happiness
- hantum
- to kill
- svajanam
- kinsmen
- udyatāḥ
- trying for
Translation
Alas, how strange it is that we are preparing to commit greatly sinful acts, driven by the desire to enjoy royal happiness.
Defined in the Gītā
Happiness
What is real happiness?
O best of the Bhāratas, now please hear from Me about the three kinds of happiness which the conditioned soul enjoys, and by which he sometimes comes to the end of all distress. That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.
Purport
Driven by selfish motives, one may be inclined to such sinful acts as the killing of one's own brother, father, or mother. There are many such instances in the history of the world. But Arjuna, being a saintly devotee of the Lord, is always conscious of moral principles and therefore takes care to avoid such activities.
What this verse teaches
Arjuna, being griefsriken, decides not to fight.
- Gita for Life
- Grief
Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 1
- Bhagavad-gītā 1.44 1973-07-31
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.