Bhagavad Gita 1.32-35

Sanskrit

न काङ्क्षे विजयं कृष्ण न च राज्यं सुखानि च । किं नो राज्येन गोविन्द किं भोगैर्जीवितेन वा ॥1.32॥येषामर्थे काङ्क्षितं नो राज्यं भोगाः सुखानि च । त इमेऽवस्थिता युद्धे प्राणांस्त्यक्त्वा धनानि च ॥1.33॥आचार्याः पितरः पुत्रास्तथैव च पितामहाः । मातुलाः श्वशुराः पौत्राः श्यालाः सम्बन्धिनस्तथा ॥1.34॥एतान्न हन्तुमिच्छामि घ्नतोऽपि मधुसूदन । अपि त्रैलोक्यराज्यस्य हेतोः किं नु महीकृते ॥1.35॥

Transliteration

na kāṅkṣe vijayaṃ kṛṣṇa na ca rājyaṃ sukhāni ca | kiṃ no rājyena govinda kiṃ bhogairjīvitena vā ‖1.32‖ yeṣāmarthe kāṅkṣitaṃ no rājyaṃ bhogāḥ sukhāni ca | ta ime'vasthitā yuddhe prāṇāṃstyaktvā dhanāni ca ‖1.33‖ ācāryāḥ pitaraḥ putrāstathaiva ca pitāmahāḥ | mātulāḥ śvaśurāḥ pautrāḥ śyālāḥ sambandhinastathā ‖1.34‖ etānna hantumicchāmi ghnato'pi madhusūdana | api trailokyarājyasya hetoḥ kiṃ nu mahīkṛte ‖1.35‖

Meaning

“I desire neither victory, O Krishna, nor kingdom, nor pleasures. What use to us is a kingdom, or enjoyments, or even life itself? Those for whose sake we desire kingdom and pleasures stand here arrayed in battle, having given up life and wealth, teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other kinsmen. I do not wish to kill them even if I am killed, O Krishna, not even for the sovereignty of the three worlds, let alone for the earth.”

Key learning

Arjuna makes a strong point: the very people he wants a kingdom for are the ones he'd have to destroy to win it. What's the point of winning a prize if winning it kills the reason you wanted it? It's a real and sharp question. But he's asking it while falling apart, and that's exactly when our deepest questions can be both true and dangerously one-sided.

How to apply this today

Often ask whether the prize you're chasing will wreck the very thing it was meant for. A parent working brutal hours "for the family" who never sees the family is letting the means eat the goal. Don't trade your health for a lifestyle you'll be too sick to enjoy. Don't win an argument by destroying the relationship it was supposed to protect. Keep the real goal in sight, and refuse wins that defeat their own purpose.

Theme: The Yoga of Arjuna's Despair

This verse is part of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1: Arjuna Vishada Yoga , read all verses in this chapter.

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