Verse 30-31
""I am now unable to stand here any longer. I am forgetting myself, and my mind is reeling.
I see only causes of misfortune, O Krsna, killer of the Kesi demon."
"I do not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle, nor can I,
my dear Krishna, desire any subsequent victory, kingdom, or happiness."
Transilteration keys:
gA-NDI-vam sram-sa-taE ha-stAt
tva-kcai-va pa-ri-da-hya-taE |
na ca sha-knO-mya-va-sthA-tum
bhra-ma-tI-va ca maE ma-naH ||30||
ni-mi-ttA-ni ca pa-shyA-mi
vi-pa-rI-tA-ni kaE-sha-va |
na ca shraE-yO-nu-pa-shyA-mi
ha-tvA sva-ja-na-mA-ha-vaE || 31||
Analysis:
Due to his impatience, Arjuna was unable to stay on the battlefield, and he was forgetting
himself on account of this weakness of his mind. Excessive attachment for material things puts
a man in such a bewildering condition of existence. Bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syat (Bhag. 11.2.37):
such fearfulness and loss of mental equilibrium take place in persons who are too affected by
material conditions. Arjuna envisioned only painful reverses in the battlefield He would not be
happy even by gaining victory over the foe. The words nimittani viparitani are significant. When
a man sees only frustration in his expectations, he thinks, "Why am I here?" Everyone is interested
in himself and his own welfare. No one is interested in the Supreme Self. Arjuna is showing
ignorance of his real self-interest by Krsna’s will. One’s real self-interest lies in Visnu,
or Krsna. The conditioned soul forgets this, and therefore suffers material pains.
Arjuna thought that his victory in the battle would only be a cause of lamentation for him.
Without knowing that one’s self-interest is in Visnu (or Krsna), conditioned souls are attracted
by bodily relationships, hoping to be happy in such situations. In such a blind conception of
life, they forget even the causes of material happiness. Arjuna appears to have even forgotten
the moral codes for a ksatriya. It is said that two kinds of men, namely the ksatriya who dies
directly in front of the battlefield under Krsna’s personal orders and the person in the
renounced order of life who is absolutely devoted to spiritual culture, are eligible to enter
into the sun globe, which is so powerful and dazzling. Arjuna is reluctant even to kill his
enemies, let alone his relatives. He thinks that by killing his kinsmen there would be no
happiness in his life, and therefore he is not willing to fight, just as a person who does not
feel hunger is not inclined to cook. He has now decided to go into the forest and live a secluded
life in frustration. But as a ksatriya, he requires a kingdom for his subsistence, because the
ksatriyas cannot engage themselves in any other occupation. But Arjuna has no kingdom. Arjuna’s
sole opportunity for gaining a kingdom lies in fighting with his cousins and brothers and
reclaiming the kingdom inherited from his father, which he does not like to do. Therefore he
considers himself fit to go to the forest to live a secluded life of frustration.
Verse 30-31 have been taken from the online edition of Bhagavatgita by Swami Srila
Prabhupada.
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