Member-only story
गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके |
हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् || 5||
It is better to live in this world by begging rather than enjoying life by killing these noble elders, who are my teachers. Otherwise, by slaying our superiors, the wealth and pleasurable things we are bound to enjoy will be tainted with blood.
Arjuna continues to defend his inaction on the same line of argument as he put forward in the first chapter. Although over here he is ready to fight but is confused due to guilt that will follow after slaying the elders like Bhishma and the teachers like Dronacharya. He is not so keen on killing such respected elders to accumulate wealth.
In contrast, he is ready to survive on alms rather than enjoy the wealth obtained by slaying his near and dear ones. He points out that even if he kills all of them to win the war and wealth, he won’t be able to enjoy those pleasures as for him it…
