Shloka 32
Karma-Yoga, Yajña-Cakra, and the Governance of Desire (कर्मयोग–यज्ञचक्र–कामनिग्रह)
न काड्क्षे विजयं कृष्ण न च राज्यं सुखानि च । कि नो राज्येन गोविन्द कि भोगैर्जीवितेन वा
na kāṅkṣe vijayaṁ kṛṣṇa na ca rājyaṁ sukhāni ca | kiṁ no rājyena govinda kiṁ bhogair jīvitena vā ||
അർജുനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ കൃഷ്ണാ! എനിക്ക് വിജയം വേണ്ട, രാജ്യം വേണ്ട, സുഖങ്ങളും വേണ്ട. ഹേ ഗോവിന്ദാ! നമുക്ക് രാജ്യത്താൽ എന്ത്? ഭോഗങ്ങളാൽ എന്ത്? ജീവിച്ചിരിക്കലാൽ തന്നെ എന്ത്?
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Arjuna’s statement highlights a moral evaluation of ends and means: victory, power, and pleasure lose their value if attained through adharma—especially through the slaughter of one’s own kin and revered elders. It frames the ethical problem that Kṛṣṇa will answer by redefining duty, action, and detachment.
On the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, just before the war begins, Arjuna is overwhelmed by grief and moral hesitation. Seeing his relatives and teachers arrayed for battle, he tells Kṛṣṇa that he does not want victory or a kingdom, because the cost—bloodshed within his own family—makes such gains feel meaningless.