Shloka 34
Karma-Yoga, Yajña-Cakra, and the Governance of Desire (कर्मयोग–यज्ञचक्र–कामनिग्रह)
आचार्या: पितर: पुत्रास्तथैव च पितामहा: । मातुला: श्वशुरा: पौत्रा: श्याला: सम्बन्धिनस्तथा
ācāryāḥ pitaraḥ putrās tathaiva ca pitāmahāḥ | mātulāḥ śvaśurāḥ pautrāḥ śyālāḥ sambandhinas tathā ||
Arjuna énumère ceux qui se tiennent devant lui dans les rangs adverses : maîtres, pères, fils et grands-pères ; oncles maternels, beaux-pères, petits-fils, beaux-frères, et d’autres parents encore. En nommant ces liens intimes, il fait de la guerre non une simple lutte pour le pouvoir, mais une crise morale : la victoire serait souillée par l’anéantissement des siens et par l’effondrement des devoirs familiaux et sociaux.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare becomes ethically fraught when it targets one’s own network of obligations—teachers and elders to be revered, and relatives to be protected. Arjuna’s listing of kin underscores the dharmic tension between kṣatriya duty to fight and the moral cost of harming those bound to him by family and social reverence.
On the battlefield, Arjuna looks at the opposing army and recognizes that it includes his own elders, teachers, and close relatives. He verbally catalogs these relationships to convey the depth of his shock and hesitation, setting up his refusal to fight and the ensuing counsel that will address his confusion about duty and righteousness.