Essays on the Gita - Track 803

nihatya dhārtarāṣṭrān naḥ kā prītiḥ syāj janārdana, by killing the sons of Dhritarashtra, what will be the happiness in it? pāpam evā, now, comes the moral sense, the moral revolt, it is gradually, you can see how beautifully Vyasa has described the condition, sensational, vital, emotional, and now moral, pāpam evāśrayed, I will only resort to sin, asmān hatvaitān ātatāyinaḥ, these are all ready to fight, but having killed them, I will only enter into sin. So, this is a new argument, up till now it was only emotional: my brothers, my friends, now comes a greater argument that this will be a sin, that is to say, even from a universal point of view, not only because they are my brothers, and my fathers and grandfathers, but now the sin is a concept which is a more universal concept: when you do a wrong thing in itself from a universal point of view, then it is sin. So, now he brings another argument which is a moral crisis: pāpam evāśrayed asmān hatvaitān ātatāyinaḥ (I, 36). tasmān, therefore, nārhā, we don't deserve, vayaḿ hantuḿ, we don't deserve to kill them, dhārtarāṣṭrān sa-bāndhavān, sa-bāndhavān, again there is a lapse again to the emotional crisis. As Sri Aurobindo says there is confusion, tangle of error which is egoistic shot through egoism of Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas all together. svajanaḿ hi kathaḿ hatvā sukhinaḥ syāma mādhava, having killed svajanaḿ our own people, O Madhava, syāma, how shall we be, sukhinaḥ, how shall we become happy? So, once again there is an emphasis on svajanaḿ. (I, 37)

Now comes a tremendous sense of virtue: again it is a moral crisis and imagine the vastness of his proposition: yady apy ete na paśyanti lobhopahata-cetasaḥ, even if they don't see, yady apy ete na paśyanti, even if they don't see what is right and wrong, why? Because lobhopahata-cetasaḥ, because their consciousness is killed by lobhah, by greed; kula-kṣaya-kṛtaḿ doṣaḿ mitra-drohe ca pātakam, but what do they not see kula-kṣaya-kṛtaḿ doṣaḿ, the error which arises by the kula-kṣaya, by the destruction of the entire family, clan; mitra-drohe, by treachery of the friend, pātakam, the sin, they don't see the sin. (I, 38) kathaḿ na jñeyam asmābhiḥ, but I am not like that who are ignorant, I am jñeyam, I am one who knows, kathaḿ na jñeyam asmābhiḥ pāpād asmān nivartitum, but having known ourselves that this is a sin, they may not see because they are lobhopahata-cetasaḥ, they are shrouded, they are clouded by the greed, but having known ourselves, why should we not be free nivartitum, why should we not come back from pāpād, from the sin; kula-kṣaya-kṛtaḿ doṣaḿ prapaśyad, because we can see very well the doṣa, the error that arises by the destruction of the clan,  janārdana. This is the specious argument: 'they' are narrow, but 'I' am so wide, I understand, they don't understand therefore they are not to be blamed, because they don't know, their consciousness is blinded, but 'my' consciousness is not blinded, I see very clearly that this is kula-kṣaya doṣaḿ (I, 39) kula-kṣaya prapaśyadbhir, now he expounds the whole theory, why kula-kṣaya doṣaḿ, why is it pāpād, why is it sin; now he expounds why is it a sin: kula-kṣaye praṇaśyanti kula-dharmāḥ sanātanāḥ, if the whole clan is destroyed, then kula-dharmāḥ praṇaśyanti, then the laws, the dharma of the family are all destroyed, kula-dharmāḥ(s) which are sanātanāḥ, the eternal laws of the family, of the clan are destroyed; dharme naṣṭe, and when Dharma is destroyed, kulaḿ kṛtsnam, the whole family, adharmo ‘bhibhavaty uta, the whole family becomes seized by adharma, abhibhavaty, – adharma takes possession of the entire family. And then he explains to Sri Krishna what happens thereafter. If adharma takes place then he says to Sri Krishna. (I, 40) adharmābhibhavāt kṛṣṇa praduṣyanti kula-striyaḥ, O Krishna, when adharma seizes the whole clan, then kula-striyaḥ praduṣyanti, then the women of the clan enter into a sin; strīṣu duṣṭāsu vārṣṇeya jāyate varṇa-sańkaraḥ, when the women fall into sin, then the offspring will be bastard offspring, varṇa-sańkaraḥ.

Now, he further explains: the exposition of morality, the exposition of Dharma and his own awareness, whereas they are all blinded, but he is very fully aware of what happens if you fall into this kind of a pāpād. (I, 41). sańkaro narakāyaiva kula-ghnānāḿ kulasya ca, and when this kind of bastard offspring arises, this kind of mixture arises, sańkaro actually is a mixture, sańkaro narakāyaiva, it leads you straight to hell for whom kula-ghnānāḿ, when you destroy your own kula, kulasya ca, even the whole family is destroyed, it is the only end is going to hell; and when you go to hell further things happens, patanti pitaro, even the forefathers who have died, even they do not receive the water and offering from you, which sustains them in a higher good condition even after death, patanti pitaro hy eṣāḿ lupta-piṇḍodaka-kriyāḥ, what food you offer and what water you offer; that offering who will do when you go to hell? So, even that will not happen; therefore even your forefathers, they will suffer; patanti pitaro hy eṣāḿ lupta-piṇḍodaka-kriyāḥ.(I, 42).

doṣair etaiḥ kula-ghnānāḿ varṇa-sańkara-kārakaiḥ
utsādyante jāti-dharmāḥ kula-dharmāś ca śāśvatāḥ (1,43)

That is why all these sins, all these errors takes place because of the killing of your clan, and because of that bastard offspring arises and therefore all the jāti-dharmāḥ, all the dharmas of the clan, and all this kula-dharmāś, all the laws which were binding the family and which are eternal, they all are transgressed, utsādyante, they are all transgressed.

utsanna-kula-dharmāṇāḿ manuṣyāṇāḿ janārdana
narake niyataḿ vāso bhavatīty anuśuśruma (I, 44)

He has been a very learned man so he says: īty anuśuśruma, we have already heard what happens; narake niyataḿ vāso, we have got to stay eternally into the hell, when utsanna-kula-dharmāṇāḿ manuṣyāṇāḿ, when you destroy the dharmas of people and of the clan then the only result is that you have to live in a hell for eternity. aho bata mahat pāpaḿ kartuḿ vyavasitā vayam: alas, indeed mahat pāpaḿ kartuḿ, a great sin is about to be committed, vyavasitā vayam, we are engaged in committing a great sin; yad rājya-sukha-lobhena hantuḿ sva-janam udyatāḥ, and all this for what? rājya-sukha-lobhena, only for the greed of happiness and of kingdom, for that we have become ready to kill our own people! (I, 45)

Now, comes his last renunciation and a great sacrifice and he says:

yadi mām apratīkāram aśastraḿ śastra-pāṇayaḥ
dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe hanyus tan me kṣemataraḿ bhavet (I, 46)

yadi, if, mām apratīkāram, apratīkāram means one who does not resist, aśastraḿ, unarmed; I would like to be unresisting, I would like to be without any arms in my hands; yadi mām apratīkāram aśastraḿ śastra-pāṇayaḥ, these dhārtarāṣṭrā, these sons of Dhritarashtra, they all have got arms, śastra-pāṇi, pāṇi means the hands, śastra means weapons, they have got arms in their hands, dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe hanyus, they are armed with weapons, I unarmed and unresisting, if they kill me, hanyus tan me kṣemataraḿ bhavet, that will become much better for me.