Shloka 37

Karma-Yoga, Yajña-Cakra, and the Governance of Desire (कर्मयोग–यज्ञचक्र–कामनिग्रह)

Devanagari script

तस्मान्ना्ा वयं हन्तुं धार्तराष्ट्रानू स्‍्वबान्धवान्‌ । स्वजनं हि कथं हत्वा सुखिन: स्याम माधव,अतएव हे माधव! अपने ही बान्धव धुृतराष्ट्रके पुत्रोंको मारनेके लिये हम योग्य नहीं हैं; क्योंकि अपने ही कुट॒म्बको मारकर हम कैसे सुखी होंगे?

Transliteration

tasmān nārhā vayaṁ hantuṁ dhārtarāṣṭrān svabāndhavān | svajanaṁ hi kathaṁ hatvā sukhinaḥ syāma mādhava ||

Translation

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.

Word by Word

• तस्मात्: therefore / from that reason
• तस्मात्: Apadana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद्
• Form: ablative (used adverbially): from that/therefore

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न
• Form: negation particle

• अर्हाः: fit / worthy / entitled
• अर्हाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अर्ह
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• वयम्: we
• वयम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural (pronoun)

• हन्तुम्: to kill
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन्
• Form: infinitive (tumun): to kill

• धार्तराष्ट्रान्: the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra / the Dhārtarāṣṭras
• धार्तराष्ट्रान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धार्तराष्ट्र
• Form: masculine, accusative, plural

• स्वबान्धवान्: one's own kinsmen
• स्वबान्धवान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व-बान्धव
• Form: masculine, accusative, plural

• स्वजनम्: one's own people/relatives
• स्वजनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व-जन
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• हि: indeed / for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि
• Form: emphatic/causal particle

• कथम्: how?
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम्
• Form: interrogative adverb

• हत्वा: having killed
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन्
• Form: absolutive (ktvā): having killed

• सुखिनः: happy
• सुखिनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुखिन्
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• स्याम: may we be / could we be
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: optative, 1st person, plural (parasmaipada): may we be

• माधव: O Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa)
• माधव: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: माधव
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa)
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Dhārtarāṣṭras (Kauravas)
• svajana (one’s own kin)