TEXT 5
gurun ahatva hi mahanubhavan
sreyo bhoktum bhaiksyam apiha loke
hatvartha-kamams tu gurun ihaiva
bhunjiya bhogan rudhira-pradigdhan
sreyo bhoktum bhaiksyam apiha loke
hatvartha-kamams tu gurun ihaiva
bhunjiya bhogan rudhira-pradigdhan
SYNONYMS
gurun--the superiors; ahatva--not killing; hi--certainly; maha-anubhavan--great souls; sreyah--it is better; bhoktum--to enjoy life;bhaiksyam--begging; api--even; iha--in this life; loke--in this world;hatva--killing; artha--gain; kaman--so desiring; tu--but; gurun--superiors; iha--in this world; eva--certainly; bhunjiya--has to enjoy;bhogan--enjoyable
things; rudhira--blood; pradigdhan--tainted with.
TRANSLATION
It is better to live in this
world by begging than to live at the cost of the lives of great souls who are
my teachers. Even though they are avaricious, they are nonetheless superiors.
If they are killed, our spoils will be tainted with blood.
PURPORT
According
to scriptural codes, a teacher who engages in an abominable action and has lost
his sense of discrimination is fit to be abandoned. Bhisma and Drona were
obliged to take the side of Duryodhana because of his financial assistance,
although they should not have accepted such a position simply on financial
considerations. Under the circumstances, they have lost the respectability of
teachers. But Arjuna thinks that nevertheless they remain his superiors, and
therefore to enjoy material profits after killing them would mean to enjoy
spoils tainted with blood.
Categories: