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Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 1.31
न च श्रेयोऽनुपश्यामि हत्वा स्वजनमाहवे ।
न काङ्क्षे विजयं कृष्ण न च राज्यं सुखानि च ॥ ३१ ॥
na ca śreyo ’nupaśyāmi
hatvā sva-janam āhave
na kāṅkṣe vijayaṁ kṛṣṇa
na ca rājyaṁ sukhāni ca
I do not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle, nor can I, my dear Kṛṣṇa, desire any subsequent victory, kingdom or happiness.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioWhat this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.
3 study points
Arjuna sees no good in killing his relatives and wants no victory, kingdom or happiness afterward.
Conditioned souls seek happiness in bodily relationships, forgetting that their true self-interest is in Kṛṣṇa.
Arjuna appears to forget his moral duties as a kṣatriya, or warrior, and rather than fight, plans to live alone in the forest in frustration.
Arjuna in a “blind conception of life” cannot see the right way to achieve even the material happiness. He argues that fighting will not offer him any enjoyment, even by victory
Theme of this purport — Blind conception of life exhibited
Without knowing one’s self interest as Vishnu, conditioned souls are attracted by bodily relationships, hoping to be happy in such conditions
One even forgets the causes of material happiness
How Arjuna exhibits “blind conception of life”
Refuses to fight – He appears to have even forgotten the moral codes of a ksatriya
Moral code of a ksatriya – For Arjuna kingdom is a must for his subsistence because ksatriyas cannot engage themselves in any other occupation
Two kinds of men enter the sun globe:
Ksatriya who dies directly in front of the battlefield under Krishna’s personal order
The person in the renounced order of life who is absolutely devoted to spiritual culture
Arjuna’s proposal
He is reluctant to kill his enemies, what to speak of his relatives – He thinks that by killing them there would be no happiness in his lives
Analogy: Just like a person who does not feel hunger is not inclined to cook
He considers himself fit to go to the forest to live a secluded life of frustration
He wants to escape because his sole opportunity in gaining a kingdom lies in fighting with his cousins and brothers which he does not like to do
Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.
The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.
Key ideas: saṁśaya, viṣāda.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
What does BG 1.31 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to questions & crisis?
Write down the real question behind your current dilemma.
Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.
Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.
Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.