Shloka 31
Karma-Yoga, Yajña-Cakra, and the Governance of Desire (कर्मयोग–यज्ञचक्र–कामनिग्रह)
निमित्तानि च पश्यामि विपरीतानि केशव । न च श्रेयोडनुपश्यामि हत्वा स््वजनमाहवे,हे केशव! मैं लक्षणोंको भी विपरीत ही देख रहा हूँ तथा युद्धमें स््वजन समुदायको मारकर कल्याण भी नहीं देखता
arjuna uvāca
nimittāni ca paśyāmi viparītāni keśava |
na ca śreyod anupaśyāmi hatvā svajanam āhave ||
Arjuna said: “O Keśava, I see omens turned against us, and I cannot discern any true good that could come from killing my own people in battle.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Arjuna articulates an ethical objection: even if victory is possible, he cannot recognize ‘śreyas’—true welfare or moral good—in an act that requires killing his own kin. The verse frames the conflict between external success and inner righteousness, highlighting that outcomes must be judged by dharma, not merely by gain.
On the battlefield, just before the war begins, Arjuna addresses Kṛṣṇa (Keśava). Overwhelmed by the prospect of fighting relatives and elders, he reports seeing inauspicious omens and concludes that slaughtering his own people in battle cannot lead to any genuine good.