The Bhagavadgîtâ, with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ — SBE Vol. 8 (trans. K. T. Telang, 1882)
The translator’s English as printed (K. T. Telang). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
Arguna said:
Seeing these kinsmen, O Kṛishṇa ! standing (here) anxious to engage in battle, my limbs droop down ; my mouth is quite dried up; a tremor comes over my body; and my hairs stand on end; the Gâṇḍiva (bow) slips from my hand; my skin burns intensely. I am unable, too, to stand up; my mind whirls round, as it were; O Kesava! I see adverse omens*; . and I do not perceive any good (likely to accrue) after killing (my) kinsmen in the battle. I do not wish for victory, O Kṛishṇa! nor sovereignty, nor pleasures: what is sovereignty to us, O Govinda! what enjoyments, and even life? Even those, for whose sake we desire sovereignty, enjoyments, and pleasures, are standing here for battle, abandoning life and wealth—preceptors, fathers, sons as well as grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, as also (other) relatives. These I do not wish to kill, though they kill (me), O destroyer of Madhu!* even for the sake of sovereignty over three worlds, how much less then for this earth (alone) ? What joy shall be ours, O Ganârdana ! after killing Dhvztardsh¢ra’s sons? Killing these felons 1 we shall only incur sin. Therefore it is not proper for us to kill our own kinsmen, the sons of Dhṛitarâshṭra. For how, O Madhava! shall we be happy after killing our own relatives? Although they have their consciences corrupted by avarice, they do not see the evils flowing from the extinction of a family, and the sin in treachery to friends; still, O Ganârdana ! should not we, who do see the evils flowing from the extinction of a family, learn to refrain from that sin? On the extinction of a family, the eternal rites of families are destroyed?. Those rites being destroyed, impiety predominates over the whole family. In consequence of the predominance of impiety, O Kṛishṇa! the women of the family become corrupt ‘4; and the women becoming corrupt, O descendant of Vṛishṇi! intermingling of castes results; that intermingling necessarily leads the family and the destroyers of the family to hell; for when the ceremonies of (offering) the balls of food and water (to them) fail 5, their ancestors fall down (to hell). By these transgressions of the destroyers of families, which occasion interminglings of castes, the eternal rites of castes and rites of families are subverted. And O Ganârdana! we have heard that men whose family-rites are subverted, must necessarily live in hell. Alas! we are engaged in committing a heinous sin, seeing that we are making efforts for killing our own kinsmen out of greed of the pleasures of sovereignty. If the sons of Dhṛitarâshṭra, weapon in hand, were to kill me in battle, me being weaponless and not defending (myself), that would be better for me.
* The words in this list include al | standing in similar relationships to those directly signified.
* Such as the appearance of vultures, cars moving without horses, &c., mentioned in the Bhishma Parvan II, 17. Cf. Sutta Nipâta, p.100. ¶ A demon of this name,
Arjuna said:
Seeing these kinsmen standing here ready to fight, O Kṛishṇa! my limbs give way beneath me, my mouth goes completely dry, my body trembles, and my hair stands on end. The Gâṇḍiva slips from my hand and my skin burns all over. I cannot keep my footing; my mind seems to spin. O Kesava! I see only ill omens, and I cannot see what good can come of killing my own kinsmen in battle. I want no victory, O Kṛishṇa! no sovereignty, no pleasures. What is sovereignty to us, O Govinda! what are enjoyments, or even life itself? The very people for whose sake we desire sovereignty, enjoyments, and pleasures are standing here ready to fight, having given up life and wealth—preceptors, fathers, sons, and grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other relatives besides. I have no wish to kill them, even if they kill me, O destroyer of Madhu!—not for lordship over the three worlds, much less then for this earth alone. What joy can be ours, O Janârdana! after killing Dhṛitarâshṭra's sons? Killing these felons 1 we shall only bring sin upon ourselves. It is therefore not right for us to kill our own kinsmen, the sons of Dhṛitarâshṭra. How, O Madhava! can we ever be happy after killing our own relatives? Even though their consciences are corrupted by greed and they cannot see the evil that flows from destroying a family, or the sin of betraying friends, should not we, O Janârdana!—who do see those evils—learn to hold back from that sin? When a family is destroyed, the eternal rites of that family perish with it. Those rites once gone, impiety spreads through the whole family. And where impiety takes hold, O Kṛishṇa! the women of the family become corrupt 4; when the women become corrupt, O descendant of Vṛishni! intermingling of castes follows; and that intermingling leads the family and its destroyers inevitably to hell—for once the ceremonies of offering balls of food and water to the ancestors fail 5, those ancestors fall down to hell. By these offences of the destroyers of families, which bring about the intermingling of castes, the eternal rites of castes and of families are overturned. And O Janârdana! we have heard that men whose family-rites are overturned must necessarily dwell in hell. Alas! we are about to commit a terrible sin: driven by greed for the pleasures of sovereignty, we are bent on killing our own kinsmen. If the sons of Dhṛitarâshṭra, weapon in hand, were to kill me in battle while I stood weaponless and unresisting, that would be better for me.
* The words in this list include all standing in similar relationships to those directly signified.
* Such as the appearance of vultures, cars moving without horses, and so on, mentioned in the Bhishma Parvan II, 17. Cf. Sutta Nipâta, p.100. ¶ A demon of this name,