Chapter 1 ; Verse 32-35 ; Bhagavad Gita

TEXT 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

SYNONYMS

kim--what use; nah--to us; rajyena--is the kingdom; govinda--O Krsna; kim--what; bhogaih--enjoyment; jivitena--by living; va--either;yesam--for whom; arthe--for the matter of; kanksitam--desired; nah--our; rajyam--kingdom; bhogah--material enjoyment; sukhani--all happiness; ca--also; te--all of them; ime--these; avasthitah--situated;yuddhe--in 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--for killing; 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--of the kingdoms; hetoh--in exchange; kim--what to speak of;nu--only; 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 kingdoms, happiness or even life itself when all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed in this battlefield? O Madhusudana, when teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and all relatives are ready to give up their lives and properties and are standing before me, then why should I wish to kill them, though I may survive? O maintainer of all creatures, I am not prepared to fight with them even in exchange for the three worlds, let alone this earth.

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 what will satisfy his senses. Although Govinda is not meant for satisfying our senses, if we try to satisfy the senses of Govinda 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 in the battlefield, and he will be unable to share his opulence after victory. This is a typical calculation of material life. The transcendental life is, however, 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.