Bhagavad-gītā 1.37
Read once with your eyes. Read again aloud.
तस्मान्नार्हा वयं हन्तुं धार्तराष्ट्रान्स्वबान्धवान्। स्वजनं हि कथं हत्वा सुखिनः स्याम माधव।।1.37।।
tasmān nārhā vayaṁ hantuṁ dhārtarāṣhṭrān sa-bāndhavān sva-janaṁ hi kathaṁ hatvā sukhinaḥ syāma mādhava
We are worthy of a nobler feat than slaughtering our relatives:the sons of Dhritarashtra; for, my Lord, how can we be happy if we kill our kinsmen?
English rendering by Shri Purohit Swami. Each source voice remains named.
Build the sentence from its parts
Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.
| Sanskrit form | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| tasmāt | hence |
| na | never |
| arhāḥ | behoove |
| vayam | we |
| hantum | to kill |
| dhārtarāṣhṭrān | the sons of Dhritarashtra |
| sva-bāndhavān | along with friends |
| sva-janam | kinsmen |
| hi | certainly |
| katham | how |
| hatvā | by killing |
| sukhinaḥ | happy |
| syāma | will we become |
| mādhava | Shree Krishna, the husband of Yogmaya |
Therefore, we should not kill the sons of Dhritarashtra, our relatives; for how can we be happy by killing our own kin, O Madhava (Krishna)?
Attributed explanatory witness: Swami Sivananda. Chapter lens: Map the battlefield, speakers, relationships and Arjuna’s reasons before reading later answers backward into the crisis.
Three named reading witnesses
Śaṅkara edition witness
Swami GambiranandaTherefore, it is not proper for us to kill the sons of Dhrtarastra, who are our own relatives. For, O Madhava, how can we be happy by killing our kinsmen?
Rāmānuja edition witness
Swami AdidevanandaTherefore, it is not befitting for us to slay our kin, the sons of Dhrtarastra. For if we kill our kinsmen, O Krsna, how can we be happy?
Sivananda commentary witness
Swami SivanandaTherefore, we should not kill the sons of Dhritarashtra, our relatives; for how can we be happy by killing our own kin, O Madhava (Krishna)?
These are concise, attributed reading witnesses from identified editions. They are presented for comparison and are not merged into one anonymous interpretation.
Meaning map
Follow the thought
- 1
We are worthy of a nobler feat than slaughtering our relatives
- 2
the sons of Dhritarashtra
- 3
for, my Lord, how can we be happy if we kill our kinsmen?
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