 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Chapter 1. Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra TEXT 32-35 kim no rajyena govinda
ta ime 'vasthita yuddhe
matulah svasurah pautrah
api trailokya-rajyasya
SYNONYMS  kim--what
use; nah--to us; rajyena--is the kingdom; govinda--O
Krsna; kim--what; bhogaih--enjoyment; jivitena--by
living; va--either; yesam--for whom; arthe--for the
matter of; kanksitam--desired; nah--our; rajyam--kingdom;
bhogah--material
enjoyment; sukhani--all happiness; ca--also;
te--all
of them; ime--these; avasthitah--situated;
yuddhe--in
this battlefield; pranan--lives; tyaktva--giving up; dhanani--riches;
ca--also; acaryah--teachers;
pitarah--fathers; putrah--sons;
tatha--as well as;
eva--certainly; ca--also; pitamahah--grandfathers;
matulah--maternal
uncles; svasurah--fathers-in-law; pautrah--grandsons;
syalah--brothers-in-law;
sambandhinah--relatives; tatha--as well as; etan--all
these; na--never; hantum--for killing;
icchami--do
I wish; ghnatah--being killed; api--even;
madhusudana--O
killer of the demon Madhu (Krsna); api--even if; trai-lokya--of
the three worlds; rajyasya--of the kingdoms;
hetoh--in exchange;
kim--what to speak of; nu--only;
mahi-krte--for the
sake of the earth; nihatya--by killing;
dhartarastran--the
sons of Dhrtarastra; nah--our; ka--what;
pritih--pleasure;
syat--will there be; janardana--O maintainer of all living
entities.
TRANSLATION O Govinda,
of what avail to us are kingdoms, happiness or even life itself when all
those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed in this battlefield?
O Madhusudana, when teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles,
fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and all relatives are ready
to give up their lives and properties and are standing before me, then
why should I wish to kill them, though I may survive? O maintainer of all
creatures, I am not prepared to fight with them even in exchange for the
three worlds, let alone this earth.
PURPORT Arjuna has addressed
Lord Krsna as Govinda because Krsna is the object of all pleasures for
cows and the senses. By using this significant word, Arjuna indicates what
will satisfy his senses. Although Govinda is not meant for satisfying our
senses, if we try to satisfy the senses of Govinda then automatically our
own senses are satisfied. Materially, everyone wants to satisfy his senses,
and he wants God to be the order supplier for such satisfaction. The Lord
will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they deserve,
but not to the extent that they may covet. But when one takes the opposite
way--namely, when one tries to satisfy the senses of Govinda without desiring
to satisfy one's own senses--then by the grace of Govinda all desires of
the living entity are satisfied. Arjuna's deep affection for community
and family members is exhibited here partly due to his natural compassion
for them. He is therefore not prepared to fight. Everyone wants to show
his opulence to friends and relatives, but Arjuna fears that all his relatives
and friends will be killed in the battlefield, and he will be unable to
share his opulence after victory. This is a typical calculation of material
life. The transcendental life is, however, different. Since a devotee wants
to satisfy the desires of the Lord, he can, Lord willing, accept all kinds
of opulence for the service of the Lord, and if the Lord is not willing,
he should not accept a farthing. Arjuna did not want to kill his relatives,
and if there were any need to kill them, he desired that Krsna kill them
personally. At this point he did not know that Krsna had already killed
them before their coming into the battlefield and that he was only to become
an instrument for Krsna. This fact is disclosed in following chapters.
As a natural devotee of the Lord, Arjuna did not like to retaliate against
his miscreant cousins and brothers, but it was the Lord's plan that they
should all be killed. The devotee of the Lord does not retaliate against
the wrongdoer, but the Lord does not tolerate any mischief done to the
devotee by the miscreants. The Lord can excuse a person on His own account,
but He excuses no one who has done harm to His devotees. Therefore the
Lord was determined to kill the miscreants, although Arjuna wanted to excuse
them.
|
