Verse 1.38

यद्यप्येते न पश्यन्ति लोभोपहतचेतसः ।

कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं मित्रद्रोहे च पातकम् ॥

1.38

Transliteration

yadyapyete na paśyanti lobhopahatacetasaḥ |

kulakṣayakṛtaṃ doṣaṃ mitradrohe ca pātakam ||

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

Translation

Though they, with intelligence overpowered by greed, see no evil in the destruction of families, and no sin in hostility to friends,

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

if
even
these
not
see
minds overpowered by greed

caused by destroying a family
fault
in betraying friends
and
sin

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

Explanation

Arjuna concedes that the Kauravas, blinded by greed, cannot see the evil of destroying a family or betraying friends. He does not excuse them; he names their greed directly. But he begins to argue that their blindness does not justify his own. The sentence carries over into the next verse. It is a mature move in his reasoning: one person's wrong does not oblige another to match it. Many readers find this one of Arjuna's most thoughtful points, even though the dialogue will later place it in a wider frame.