Shloka 37
Karma-Yoga, Yajña-Cakra, and the Governance of Desire (कर्मयोग–यज्ञचक्र–कामनिग्रह)
तस्मान्ना्ा वयं हन्तुं धार्तराष्ट्रानू स््वबान्धवान् । स्वजनं हि कथं हत्वा सुखिन: स्याम माधव
tasmān nārhā vayaṁ hantuṁ dhārtarāṣṭrān svabāndhavān | svajanaṁ hi kathaṁ hatvā sukhinaḥ syāma mādhava ||
Therefore we are not fit to kill the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra—our own kinsmen. For, O Mādhava, how could we ever be happy after slaying our own people? Arjuna frames the act not merely as a military necessity but as an ethical rupture: victory purchased by kin-slaying cannot yield true well-being.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Arjuna argues that ethical legitimacy matters more than victory: killing one’s own kin (even in pursuit of a kingdom) destroys the very basis of happiness and righteousness, so the act cannot be justified merely by political or martial aims.
On the battlefield, Arjuna addresses Kṛṣṇa (Mādhava) and declares that he cannot bring himself to kill the Dhārtarāṣṭras, whom he recognizes as his own relatives; he anticipates that any triumph gained through family-slaying will be hollow and morally ruinous.