Verse 1.32

न काङ्क्षे विजयं कृष्ण न च राज्यं सुखानि च ।

किं नो राज्येन गोविन्द किं भोगैर्जीवितेन वा ॥

1.32

Transliteration

na kāṅkṣe vijayaṃ kṛṣṇa na ca rājyaṃ sukhāni ca |

kiṃ no rājyena govinda kiṃ bhogairjīvitena vā ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

I desire not victory, O Krishna, nor kingdom, nor pleasures. Of what avail is dominion to us, O Krishna, or pleasures or even life?

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

not
I desire
victory
O Krishna
nor
and
kingdom
pleasures
and

what use
to us
with kingdom
O Govinda
what use
with enjoyments
with life
or

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

Arjuna renounces the goals of the war. He wants neither victory nor kingdom nor comfort, and asks what point there is in rule, enjoyment or even life. On the surface this sounds like detachment, the very quality the Gita will later praise. Yet it springs from grief and shock rather than from insight. Many readers see this as an important distinction the dialogue will draw: turning away from the world in despair is different from acting freely without craving. Arjuna's words here are sincere, but their source is sorrow.