Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1, Verse 32

Chapter 1 – Arjuna Vishada Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

न काङ्क्षे विजयं कृष्ण न च राज्यं सुखानि च ।
किं नो राज्येन गोविन्द किं भोगैर्जीवितेन वा ॥

Transliteration

na kāṅkṣe vijayaṃ kṛṣṇa na ca rājyaṃ sukhāni ca .
kiṃ no rājyena govinda kiṃ bhogairjīvitena vā ॥

Meaning

O Krishna, I do not desire victory, nor kingdom, nor pleasures. O Govinda, what use to us is a kingdom, or enjoyments, or even life itself?

Word meanings

न – not
काङ्क्षे – I desire
विजयम् – victory
कृष्ण – O Krishna
च – and
राज्यम् – kingdom
सुखानि – pleasures
किम् – what (use)
नः – to us
राज्येन – with a kingdom
गोविन्द – O Govinda
भोगैः – with enjoyments
जीवितेन – with life
वा – or

Anvaya (word order)

कृष्ण, (अहं) विजयं न काङ्क्षे, न च राज्यं सुखानि च; गोविन्द, नः राज्येन किम्, भोगैः जीवितेन वा किम् ।

Explanation

Arjuna now begins to give his despair the shape of reasoning. 'I want no victory, no kingdom, no pleasures.' On the surface this sounds like renunciation, as if Arjuna had risen to some lofty spiritual state. But traditional commentators make it clear that this is not true dispassion; it is a withdrawal born of delusion.

Genuine vairagya, dispassion, springs from discernment: from understanding the impermanence of the world and the eternity of the Self. Arjuna's 'renunciation' is the opposite, born of attachment to his kinsmen. He does not wish to give up the kingdom because he has seen through its emptiness, but because the price of winning it, the death of his own people, seems unbearable. This is not renunciation but escape.

We should also remember that for a kshatriya a kingdom is not merely a means of personal enjoyment; it is a responsibility to protect the people and uphold dharma. If the kingdom stays in the hands of an unrighteous ruler like Duryodhana, the whole populace will suffer. Arjuna forgets this wider duty and thinks only in terms of his own joy and sorrow.

Arjuna calls Krishna Govinda. The word go has many meanings: cow, the senses, the earth, and the words of the Veda. Govinda is the protector of cows, the one who gladdens the senses, and the one known through the Vedas. Unknowingly Arjuna calls out the very name of the one who can give right direction to the senses and the mind.

Context

In the previous verse Arjuna said he saw no good in killing his kinsmen. Here he declares that he has no wish for victory, kingdom or pleasure. In the next verse he explains why: those for whom such things are desired are the very ones standing here ready to die.

Life lesson

Not every giving-up is renunciation; a 'sacrifice' made to avoid a hard duty is escape. True dispassion comes from discernment and understanding, not from emotional panic.

Key terms

Govinda: protector of cows, delighter of the senses, he who is known through the Vedas; Krishna
Vairagya: dispassion born of discernment
Bhoga: sensual enjoyment, worldly pleasure