Verse 1.39
कथं न ज्ञेयमस्माभिः पापादस्मान्निवर्तितुम् ।
कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं प्रपश्यद्भिर्जनार्दन ॥
Transliteration
kathaṃ na jñeyamasmābhiḥ pāpādasmānnivartitum |
kulakṣayakṛtaṃ doṣaṃ prapaśyadbhirjanārdana ||
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3
Translation
Why should not we who clearly see evil in the destruction of families, learn to turn away from this sin, O Janardana (Krishna)?
From the owner's sheet · +1 more
why should we, who clearly see the evil of destroying a family, Janardana, not know to turn back from this sin?
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08 · +1 more
Word by word
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08
Explanation
The thought begun in the previous verse is completed. If the Kauravas cannot see the harm, Arjuna and his brothers can, and so they should know better than to commit it. Knowledge, he argues, brings responsibility. The appeal to seeing clearly is important, for the whole Gita is concerned with right seeing. Arjuna believes he sees clearly here, and his reasoning is coherent. The teaching that follows will not dismiss his concern for family but will question whether his view of the situation is complete.
By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08