Speaker: Arjuna
गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान्
श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके ।
हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव
भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् ॥५॥
gurūn ahatvā hi mahānubhāvān
śreyo bhoktuṁ bhaikṣyam apīha loke
hatvārtha-kāmāṁs tu gurūn ihaiva
bhuñjīya bhogān rudhira-pradigdhān
Word for word (synonyms)
- gurūn
- the superiors
- ahatvā
- by killing
- hi
- certainly
- mahā-anubhāvān
- great souls
- śreyaḥ
- it is better
- bhoktum
- to enjoy life
- bhaikṣyam
- begging
- api
- even
- iha
- in this life
- loke
- in this world
- hatvā
- killing
- artha
- gain
- kāmān
- so desiring
- tu
- but
- gurūn
- superiors
- iha
- in this world
- eva
- certainly
- bhuñjīya
- has to enjoy
- bhogān
- enjoyable things
- rudhira
- blood
- pradigdhān
- tainted with
Translation
It is better to live in this world by begging than to live at the cost of the lives of great souls who are my teachers. Even though they are avaricious, they are nonetheless superiors. If they are killed, our spoils will be tainted with blood.
Defined in the Gītā
Mahātmā
Who is a mahātmā, a great soul?
O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.
Purport
According to scriptural codes, a teacher who engages in an abominable action and has lost his sense of discrimination is fit to be abandoned. Bhīṣma and Droṇa were obliged to take the side of Duryodhana because of his financial assistance, although they should not have accepted such a position simply on financial considerations. Under the circumstances, they have lost the respectability of teachers. But Arjuna thinks that nevertheless they remain his superiors, and therefore to enjoy material profits after killing them would mean to enjoy spoils tainted with blood.
What this verse teaches
Arjuna’s further doubts and confusion
- Gita for Life
- Confusion and doubt
Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 5
- Bhagavad-gītā 2.1-10 and Talk 1968-11-25 · Los Angeles
- Bhagavad-gītā 2.2–6 1972-12-11
- Bhagavad-gītā 2.4–5 1973-08-05
- Bhagavad-gītā 2.1–5 1974-06-16
- Bhagavad-gītā 2.1-11 1975-10-17
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.