Daily Shlokas: Oct.31, 2015

Bg 1.30

na ca śaknomy avasthātuṁ bhramatīva ca me manaḥ

nimittāni ca paśyāmi viparītāni keśava

Bg 1.31

na ca śreyo ’nupaśyāmi hatvā sva-janam āhave

na kāṅkṣe vijayaṁ kṛṣṇa na ca rājyaṁ sukhāni ca

Bg 1.32-35

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

Translation:

30,31.  I am also unable to stand and my mind is whirling round,

as it were. And I see adverse omens, O Keshava. Nor do I see any good

in killing my kinsmen in battle.

32. For, I desire not victory, O Krishna, nor kingdom, nor

pleasures. Of what avail is dominion to us, O Govinda? Of

what avail are pleasures or even life itself?

33. They for whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyment and

pleasures stand here in battle, having renounced life and wealth.

34. Teachers, fathers, sons and also grandfathers, maternal

uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and other

relatives.

35. These I do not wish to kill, though they kill me, O

Madhusudana, even for the sake of dominion over the three

worlds; how much less for the sake of the earth.

 Commentary:

Here Arjuna is adding some more details of the symptoms of his disease. Earlier we had a list of symptoms that manifested on the physical body. Now in this stanza, Arjuna tries to report recognised symptoms of the maladjustments at his mental level...

In this state of mental confusion, when his emotions have been totally divorced from his intellect, the 'objective mind,' without the guidance of its 'subjective-aspect,' runs wild and comes to some unintelligent conclusions. He says, 'I desire neither victory, nor empire, nor even pleasure.' It is a recognised fact that a patient of hysteria, when allowed to talk, will, in a negative way, express the very cause for the attack. For example, when a woman, hysterically raving, repeatedly declares with all emphasis, that she is not tired of her husband that she still respects him, that he still loves her, that there is no rupture between them, etc., she, by these very words, clearly indicates the exact cause of her mental chaos. Similarly, the very denials of Arjuna clearly indicate to all careful readers how and why he got into such a state of mental grief. He desired victory. He urgently wanted the kingdom. He anxiously expected to win pleasures for himself and his relations. But the challenging look of the mighty Kaurava forces and the great and eminent warriors standing ready to fight, shattered his hopes, blasted his ambitions, and undermined his self-confidence and he slowly developed the well-known "Arjuna disease," the cure for which is the theme of the Geeta.

Arjuna continues his arguments to Krishna against the advisability of such a civil war between the two factions of the same royal family… Feeling that he had not expressed his case strongly enough to Krishna to make him come to this conclusion, and, assuming that it was because of this that the Lord had not given his assent to it, Arjuna decided to declare with a mock spirit of renunciation, that he had so much large-heartedness in him that he would not kill his cousins, even if they were to kill him. The climax came when Arjuna, with quixotic exaggeration, declared that he would not fight the war, even if he were to win all the three worlds of the universe, much less so for the mere Hastinapura-kingship.

Sources: vedabase.com;  The Holy Geeta