TEXT 32-35
kim no rajyena govinda
kim bhogair jivitena va
yesam arthe kanksitam no
rajyam bhogah sukhani ca
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
pranams tyaktva dhanani ca
acaryah pitarah putras
tathaiva ca pitamahah
matulah svasurah pautrah
syalah sambandhinas tatha
etan na hantum icchami
ghnato 'pi madhusudana
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
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.
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