Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 5

Chapter 2 – Sankhya Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान्
श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके ।
हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव
भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् ॥

Transliteration

gurūnahatvā hi mahānubhāvān śreyo bhoktuṃ bhaikṣyamapīha loke .
hatvārthakāmāṃstu gurūnihaiva bhuñjīya bhogān rudhirapradigdhān ॥

Meaning

Better indeed to live in this world even on alms than to slay these noble teachers. For by slaying them, even though they seek worldly gain, I would enjoy here only pleasures stained with blood.

Word meanings

गुरून् – teachers, elders
अहत्वा – not slaying
हि – indeed
महानुभावान् – great-souled, noble
श्रेयः – better, more beneficial
भोक्तुम् – to eat, to live on
भैक्ष्यम् – alms, food got by begging
अपि – even
इह लोके – in this world
हत्वा – having slain
अर्थकामान् – desirous of wealth (or: pleasures of wealth and desire)
तु – but
इह एव – here itself
भुञ्जीय – I would enjoy
भोगान् – enjoyments
रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् – smeared with blood

Anvaya (word order)

महानुभावान् गुरून् अहत्वा इह लोके भैक्ष्यम् अपि भोक्तुं श्रेयः हि । अर्थकामान् तु गुरून् हत्वा इह एव रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् भोगान् भुञ्जीय ।

Explanation

Arjuna now voices his dilemma more deeply. He is a kshatriya, for whom begging was forbidden and shameful. Yet he says that living on alms would be better than winning a kingdom by killing his teachers. The statement shows how deep his anguish runs: he is ready to abandon even his own svadharma, his natural duty.

The word ‘artha-kaman’ is read in two ways. It may qualify ‘gurun’ — ‘teachers who are bound by desire for wealth’ — recalling Bhishma's own admission that a man is the servant of wealth and that he was bound to the Kauravas by their patronage. Or it may qualify ‘bhogan’ — enjoyments of wealth and desire. Either way Arjuna's feeling is the same: such a victory would taste of blood.

‘Rudhira-pradigdhan bhogan’ — pleasures smeared with blood — is a haunting image. Arjuna imagines that every comfort of the palace, every meal at the royal table, would remind him of the blood of those he revered. His sensitivity is admirable, but the conclusion he draws is born of delusion.

Arjuna's mistake is that he sees the war as a means to personal enjoyment. Krishna will teach that a righteous battle is fought not for pleasure but for duty. When the motive of an action changes, its moral character changes as well. The same deed done for gain and done as an offering are, inwardly, two very different acts.

Context

In 2.4 Arjuna asked how he could fight the venerable Bhishma and Drona. Here he compares and concludes that even begging would be better. In the next verse (2.6) he admits that he does not even know whether victory or defeat would be preferable.

Life lesson

Judge an action not merely by the pleasure of its result but by its purpose. Work done only for one's own enjoyment weighs heavily on the heart; work done as duty brings peace.

Key terms

Bhaikshya: food obtained by begging, alms
Artha-kama: desire for wealth and pleasure
Mahanubhava: great-souled, of noble stature