Bhagavad-gītā As it Is << 1 - Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra >>
<< VERSE 32-35 >>
किं नॊ राज्येन गॊविन्द किं भॊगैर जीवितेन वा येषाम अर्थे काङ्क्षितं नॊ राज्यं भॊगाः सुखानि च त इमे ऽवस्थिता युद्धे पराणांस तयक्त्वा धनानि च आचार्याः पितरः पुत्रास तथैव च पितामहाः मातुलाः शवशुराः पौत्राः शयालाः संबन्धिनस तथा एतान न हन्तुम इच्छामि घनतॊ ऽपि मधुसूदन अपि तरैलॊक्यराज्यस्य हेतॊः किं नु महीकृते निहत्य धार्तराष्ट्रान नः का परीतिः सयाज जनार्दन
kiṁ no rājyena govinda kiṁ bhogair jīvitena vā yeṣām arthe kāṅkṣitaṁ no rājyaṁ bhogāḥ sukhāni ca ta ime ’vasthitā yuddhe prāṇāṁs tyaktvā dhanāni ca ācāryāḥ pitaraḥ putrās tathaiva ca pitāmahāḥ mātulāḥ śvaśurāḥ pautrāḥ śyālāḥ sambandhinas tathā etān na hantum icchāmi ghnato ‘pi madhusūdana api trailokya-rājyasya hetoḥ kiṁ nu mahī-kṛte nihatya dhārtarāṣṭrān naḥ kā prītiḥ syāj janārdana
WORD BY WORD
kim what use; naḥ to us; rājyena is the kingdom; govinda O Kṛṣṇa; kim what; bhogaiḥ enjoyment; jīvitena living; vā either; yeṣām of whom; arthe for the sake; kāṅkṣitam is desired; naḥ by us; rājyam kingdom; bhogāḥ material enjoyment; sukhāni all happiness; ca also; te all of them; ime these; avasthitāḥ situated; yuddhe on this battlefield; prāṇān lives; tyaktvā giving up; dhanāni riches; ca also; ācāryāḥ teachers; pitaraḥ fathers; putrāḥ sons; tathā as well as; eva certainly; ca also; pitāmahāḥ grandfathers; mātulāḥ maternal uncles; śvaśurāḥ fathers-in-law; pautrāḥ grandsons; śyālāḥ brothers-in-law; sambandhinaḥ relatives; tathā as well as; etān all these; na never; hantum to kill; icchāmi do I wish; ghnataḥ being killed; api even; madhusūdana O killer of the demon Madhu (Kṛṣṇa); api even if; trai-lokya of the three worlds; rājyasya for the kingdom; hetoḥ in exchange; kim nu what to speak of; mahī-kṛte for the sake of the earth; nihatya by killing; dhārtarāṣṭrān the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra; naḥ our; kā what; prītiḥ pleasure; syāt will there be; janārdana O maintainer of all living entities;
TRANSLATION
| O Govinda, of what avail to us are a kingdom, happiness or even life itself when all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed on this battlefield? O Madhusūdana, when teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and other relatives are ready to give up their lives and properties and are standing before me, why should I wish to kill them, even though they might otherwise kill me? O maintainer of all living entities, I am not prepared to fight with them even in exchange for the three worlds, let alone this earth. What pleasure will we derive from killing the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra?
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PURPORT
| Arjuna has addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa as Govinda because Kṛṣṇa is the object of all pleasures for cows and the senses. By using this significant word, Arjuna indicates that Kṛṣṇa should understand what will satisfy Arjuna’s senses. But Govinda is not meant for satisfying our senses. If we try to satisfy the senses of Govinda, however, then automatically our own senses are satisfied. Materially, everyone wants to satisfy his senses, and he wants God to be the order supplier for such satisfaction. The Lord will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they deserve, but not to the extent that they may covet. But when one takes the opposite way – namely, when one tries to satisfy the senses of Govinda without desiring to satisfy one’s own senses – then by the grace of Govinda all desires of the living entity are satisfied. Arjuna’s deep affection for community and family members is exhibited here partly due to his natural compassion for them. He is therefore not prepared to fight. Everyone wants to show his opulence to friends and relatives, but Arjuna fears that all his relatives and friends will be killed on the battlefield and he will be unable to share his opulence after victory. This is a typical calculation of material life. The transcendental life, however, is different. Since a devotee wants to satisfy the desires of the Lord, he can, Lord willing, accept all kinds of opulence for the service of the Lord, and if the Lord is not willing, he should not accept a farthing. Arjuna did not want to kill his relatives, and if there were any need to kill them, he desired that Kṛṣṇa kill them personally. At this point he did not know that Kṛṣṇa had already killed them before their coming into the battlefield and that he was only to become an instrument for Kṛṣṇa. This fact is disclosed in following chapters. As a natural devotee of the Lord, Arjuna did not like to retaliate against his miscreant cousins and brothers, but it was the Lord’s plan that they should all be killed. The devotee of the Lord does not retaliate against the wrongdoer, but the Lord does not tolerate any mischief done to the devotee by the miscreants. The Lord can excuse a person on His own account, but He excuses no one who has done harm to His devotees. Therefore the Lord was determined to kill the miscreants, although Arjuna wanted to excuse them.
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