A core teaching · reflective in mood · easy to enter
“Kinship makes violence feel unbearable.”
Therefore, we are not fit to kill our own kinsmen, the sons of Dhritarashtra. How could we be happy after killing our relatives, O Madhava?
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallytherefore · not fit · we · to kill · the sons of Dhritarashtra · our own relatives · our own people · indeed · how · having killed · happy · we would be · O Madhava
Arjuna says the Kaurava side are his own relatives, so killing them would not bring happiness.
Arjuna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Arjuna Vishada Yoga" (The Yoga of Arjuna's Despair).
Verse 37 sits in Chapter 1 of the Bhagavad Gita — Arjuna Vishada Yoga, "The Yoga of Arjuna's Despair". The chapter has 47 verses in total.
A player who wins a match by injuring his close friend gets the medal and loses the friend. Arjuna puts the same question to Madhava: how could anyone be happy after killing their own relatives?
Did you like this verse?
Arjuna concludes that he and his brothers are unfit to kill their kinsmen, because no happiness could follow.
What this verse means
Arjuna says the Kaurava side are his own relatives, so killing them would not bring happiness.
Context & commentary
Arjuna looks at the men he is meant to fight and sees family where he expected enemies. Krishna is pressing him toward action, but Arjuna's heart is breaking under the thought of killing his own kin.
What it looks like today
A player who wins a match by injuring his close friend gets the medal and loses the friend. Arjuna puts the same question to Madhava: how could anyone be happy after killing their own relatives?
“You can feel the cost of violence before you act, and that honesty matters.”
Explore related themes: kurukshetra (95 verses), arjuna vishada (14 verses)