BHAGAVAD-GITA 1:32-35

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 1:32-35

 

kim no rajyena govinda

kim bhogair jivitena va

yesam arthe kanksitam no

rajyam bhogah sukhani ca

 

ta ime 'vasthita yuddhe

pranams tyaktva dhanani ca

acaryah pitarah putras

tathaiva ca pitamahah

 

matulah svasurah pautrah

syalah sambandhinas tatha

etan na hantum icchami

ghnato 'pi madhusudana

 

api trailokya-rajyasya

hetoh kim nu mahi-krte

nihatya dhartarastran nah

ka pritih syaj janardana

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

kim--what use; nah--to us; rajyena--is the kingdom; govinda--O Krsna;

kim--what; bhogaih--enjoyment; jivitena--living; va--either; yesam--of

whom; arthe--for the sake; kanksitam--is desired; nah--by us;

rajyam--kingdom; bhogah--material enjoyment; sukhani--all happiness;

ca--also; te--all of them; ime--these; avasthitah--situated;

yuddhe--on this battlefield; pranan--lives; tyaktva--giving up;

dhanani--riches; ca--also; acaryah--teachers; pitarah--fathers;

putrah--sons; tatha--as well as; eva--certainly; ca--also;

pitamahah--grandfathers; matulah--maternal uncles;

svasurah--fathers-in-law; pautrah--grandsons; syalah--brothers-in-law;

sambandhinah--relatives; tatha--as well as; etan--all these;

na--never; hantum--to kill; icchami--do I wish; ghnatah--being killed;

api--even; madhusudana--O killer of the demon Madhu (Krsna); api--even

if; trai-lokya--of the three worlds; rajyasya--for the kingdom;

hetoh--in exchange; kim nu--what to speak of; mahi-krte--for the sake

of the earth; nihatya--by killing; dhartarastran--the sons of

Dhrtarastra; nah--our; ka--what; pritih--pleasure; syat--will there

be; janardana--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 Madhusudana, 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 Dhrtarastra?

 

PURPORT

 

Arjuna has addressed Lord Krsna as Govinda because Krsna is the object

of all pleasures for cows and the senses. By using this significant

word, Arjuna indicates that Krsna 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 Krsna kill them personally. At

this point he did not know that Krsna had already killed them before

their coming into the battlefield and that he was only to become an

instrument for Krsna. 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.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.