From: system@kalki33.lakes.trenton.sc.us (Kalki Dasa)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Bhagavad-Gita daily verse 1.32-35
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 02:26:23 EST
Organization: Kalki's Infoline BBS, Aiken, SC, USA

                              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

  
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.

Bhagavad-Gita As It Is
Books of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami


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