A question · reflective in mood · easy to enter
“Respect can make necessary action feel unbearable.”
Arjuna said: How can I fight Bhishma and Drona with arrows in battle, O Madhusudana? They are worthy of worship, O destroyer of enemies.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyArjuna said · how · Bhishma · I · in battle · Drona · and · O Madhusudana · with arrows · shall fight · worthy of worship · O destroyer of enemies
Arjuna cannot imagine fighting his own respected teachers and elders. His hesitation is not tactical; it is moral and emotional.
Arjuna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Sankhya Yoga" (The Yoga of Knowledge).
Verse 4 sits in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita — Sankhya Yoga, "The Yoga of Knowledge". The chapter has 72 verses in total.
Asked to give evidence that will cost a former teacher his job, you hesitate because you still respect him. Arjuna faces Bhishma and Drona with the same knot: duty on one side, reverence on the other.
Did you like this verse?
Bhishma and Drona are worthy of worship, Arjuna says, so how can he aim arrows at them?
What this verse means
Arjuna cannot imagine fighting his own respected teachers and elders. His hesitation is not tactical; it is moral and emotional.
Context & commentary
Krishna has just challenged Arjuna’s collapse. Arjuna answers with a deeper wound: in his heart Bhishma and Drona are revered teachers, whatever side they stand on. His refusal to shoot reveals the conflict tearing him apart.
What it looks like today
Asked to give evidence that will cost a former teacher his job, you hesitate because you still respect him. Arjuna faces Bhishma and Drona with the same knot: duty on one side, reverence on the other.
“Some conflicts hurt because the people involved still matter to you.”
Explore related themes: kurukshetra (95 verses), arjuna (52 verses)