The Bhagavad Gita

1 The War Within

DHRITARASHTRA

1 O Sanjaya, tell me what happened at Kurukshetra,
the field of dharma, where my family
and the Pandavas gathered to fight.

SANJAYA

2 Having surveyed the forces of the Pandavas arrayed for battle,
prince Duryodhana approached his teacher, Drona, and spoke. 

 

3 “O my teacher, look at this mighty army of the Pandavas,
assembled by your own gifted disciple, Yudhishthira. 

4 There are heroic warriors and great archers who are the equals
of Bhima and Arjuna: Yuyudhana, Virata, the mighty Drupada, 

5 Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, the valiant king of Kashi
Purujit, Kuntibhoja, the great leader Shaibya, 

 

6 the powerful Yudhamanyu, the valiant Uttamaujas,
and the son of Subhadra, in addition to the sons of Draupadi.

All these command mighty chariots.
7 “O best of brahmins, listen to the names of those
who are distinguished among our own forces:

  8 Bhishma, Karna, and the victorious Kripa; Ashvatthama,
Vikarna, and the son of Somadatta.

 

9 “There are many others, too,
heroes giving up their lives for my sake,
all proficient in war and armed with a variety of weapons. 

10 Our army is unlimited and commanded by Bhishma;
theirs is small and commanded by Bhima. 

11 Let everyone take his proper place
and stand firm supporting Bhishma!”

12 Then the powerful Bhishma, the grandsire,
oldest of all the Kurus, in order to cheer Duryodhana,
roared like a lion and blew his conch horn. 

13 And after Bhishma, a tremendous noise arose of conchs
and cow horns and pounding on drums.

14 Then Sri Krishna and Arjuna, who were standing in
a mighty chariot yoked with white horses, blew their divine conchs. 

15 Sri Krishna blew the conch named Panchajanya,
and Arjuna blew that called Devadatta.
The mighty Bhima blew the huge conch Paundra. 

 

16 Yudhishthira, the king, the son of Kunti,
blew the conch Anantavijaya;
Nakula and Sahadeva blew their conchs as well. 

17 Then the king of Kashi, the leading bowman,
the great warrior Shikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna,
Virata, the invincible Satyaki, 

18 Drupada, all the sons of Draupadi,
and the strong-armed son of Subhadra joined in, 

19 and the noise tore through the heart of Duryodhana’s army.
Indeed, the sound was tumultuous,
echoing throughout heaven and earth.

 

20 At that time, the son of Pandu, Arjun,
who had the insignia of Hanuman on the flag of his chariot,
took up his bow. Seeing your sons arrayed against him,
O King, Arjun then spoke the following words to Shri Krishna:

 

ARJUNA

21 O Krishna, drive my chariot between the two armies. 

22 I want to see those who desire to fight with me.
With whom will this battle be fought? 

 

23 I want to see those assembled to fight for Duryodhana,
those who seek to please the evil-minded
son of Dhritarashtra by engaging in war.

SANJAYA

24 Thus Arjuna spoke, and Sri Krishna, driving his
splendid chariot between the two armies, 

25 facing Bhishma and Drona and all the kings of the earth, said:
“Arjuna, behold all the Kurus gathered together.”

 

26 And Arjuna, standing between the two armies,
saw fathers and grandfathers, teachers, uncles,
and brothers, sons and grandsons, 

27 in-laws and friends.
Seeing his kinsmen established in opposition, 

 

28 Arjuna was overcome by sorrow.
Despairing, he spoke these words:

ARJUNA

O Krishna, I see my own relations here anxious to fight, 

29 and my limbs grow weak; my mouth is dry,
my body shakes, and my hair is standing on end. 

30 My skin burns, and the bow Gandiva has slipped from my hand.
I am unable to stand; my mind seems to be whirling. 

 

31 These signs bode evil for us. I do not see that
any good can come from killing our relations in battle. 

 

32 O Krishna, I have no desire for victory,
or for a kingdom or pleasures.
Of what use is a kingdom or pleasure or even life, 

33 if those for whose sake we desire these things – 

 

34 teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, uncles, in-laws, grandsons,
and others with family ties – are engaging in this battle,
renouncing their wealth and their lives? 

35 Even if they were to kill me, I would not want to kill them,
not even to become ruler of the three worlds.
How much less for the earth alone?

36 O Krishna, what satisfaction could we find
in killing Dhritarashtra’s sons?
We would become sinners by slaying these men,
even though they are evil.

  37 The sons of Dhritarashtra are related to us; therefore,
we should not kill them. How can we gain happiness
by killing members of our own family?

 

38 Though they are overpowered by greed and see no evil
in destroying families or injuring friends, we see these evils.

39 Why shouldn’t we turn away from this sin?

 

40 When a family declines, ancient traditions are destroyed.
With them are lost the spiritual foundations for life,
and the family loses its sense of unity. 

41 Where there is no sense of unity,
the women of the family become corrupt;
and with the corruption of its women,
society is plunged into chaos. 

 

42 Social chaos is hell for the family and for those
who have destroyed the family as well.
It disrupts the process of spiritual evolution begun by our ancestors. 

43 The timeless spiritual foundations of family and society would
be destroyed by these terrible deeds, which violate the unity of life.

 

44 It is said that those whose family dharma
has been destroyed dwell in hell.

45 This is a great sin! We are prepared to kill our own relations
out of greed for the pleasures of a kingdom. 

 

46 Better for me if the sons of Dhritarashtra, weapons in hand,
were to attack me in battle and kill me unarmed and unresisting.

SANJAYA

47 Overwhelmed by sorrow, Arjuna spoke these words.
And casting away his bow and his arrows,
he sat down in his chariot in the middle of the battlefield.

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