Bhagavad-gītā 2.5
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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gurūn
—
the superiors
Plural — not one teacher but the whole class of seniors. Arjuna is widening the objection: it is not Droṇa alone but the entire elder rank standing across the field.
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mahā - anubhāvān
—
great souls
Anubhāva is realized perception. Arjuna grants these elders the title of realized souls — and so the killing seems doubly wrong. The Gītā will not deny their greatness, only complete the picture of dharma.
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bhaikṣyam
—
begging
The kṣatriya is invoking the brāhmaṇa's mode of life — bhikṣā. He would rather change varṇa than perform his own. This is exactly the renunciation-disguised-as-evasion Kṛṣṇa will dismantle.
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artha - kāmān
—
desiring wealth and gain
Arjuna projects motive onto the elders — they fight for Duryodhana's wealth. Even if true, the projection is a way of demoting the venerable to make killing them less terrible. The heart's bargaining is visible in the word.
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rudhira - pradigdhān
—
smeared with blood
Vivid compound — every enjoyment after this war will be *smeared*, *daubed*, *plastered* with blood. The image is the heart's veto written in a single word. Kṛṣṇa will not deny the blood; He will reframe the smearing.
According to scriptural codes, a teacher who engages in an abominable action and has lost his sense of discrimination is fit to be abandoned. Bhīṣma and Droṇa were obliged to take the side of Duryodhana because of his financial assistance, although they should not have accepted such a position simply on financial considerations. Under the circumstances, they have lost the respectability of teachers. But Arjuna thinks that nevertheless they remain his superiors, and therefore to enjoy material profits after killing them would mean to enjoy spoils tainted with blood.
“If you don’t want the kingdom, then how will you live?” “Not killing my elders, I will live by begging, though it is condemned for the kṣatriya to do so. It is better to eat the food got from begging. Though it will bring infamy in this life, it will not be inauspicious for future lives. One should not say that these gurus, being obedient to Duryodhana, should be rejected because they have become proud, and do not know right from wrong, by citing the scriptures: guror apy avaliptasya kāryākāryam ajānataḥ utpathapratipannasya parityāgo vidhīyate One should reject the guru who is proud, does not know proper behavior, who becomes engaged in sinful life. Mahābhārata 5.178.24 They, on the contrary, are great souls (mahānubhāvān). What fault is there in Bhīṣma and others who have control over time [Note: Bhīṣma could die when he chose, and made a vow to remain unmarried for life.] and lust?” “But Bhīṣma said to Yudhiṣṭhira,
artha sya puruṣo dāso dāsas tv artho na kasyacit iti satyaṁ mahārāja baddho ’smy arthena kauravaiḥ Man is a servant of wealth. Wealth is not a servant of anyone. O king, I have been bound by wealth to the Kauravas. Mahābhārata 6.41.36 Therefore, has not their great character been destroyed by such desire for wealth?” “That is true, but if I kill them, I will be unhappy. Even in killing those Kurus who are greedy for wealth (artha-kāmān), if I should enjoy the wealth, it will be contaminated with their blood. The meaning is this: though they have desire for wealth, they are still my gurus. Therefore in killing them, because I commit the sin of killing guru, my enjoyment will be mixed with that sin.”
“How will you maintain your life, if you do not have a desire for your own kingdom?” “It is better to subsist by begging for food without having to kill the elders, even though that is condemned for the kṣatriya, because, though it is a cause of infamy in this life, it will not create impediments in the next life.” “You should also reject Bhīṣma and others, though they are teachers, since they are also contaminated with the arrogance for war, and have thus lost the discrimination of right and wrong, by association with Duryodhana and others, who are using this war to commit violence to you and take away your kingdom by deceit. It is said in the smṛti: guror apy avaliptasya kāryākāryam ajānataḥ utpathapratipannasya parityāgo vidhīyate One should reject the guru who is proud, does not know proper behavior of right and wrong, and who becomes addicted to sinful life.” Mahabharata 5.178.24 “But they have the most outstanding powers among all persons (mahānubhāvān) caused by their study of the Vedas and their brahmacārī life. [Note: Bhīṣma took a vow never to marry, so that he would not have heirs to the throne.] Having brought time, lust, and other factors under control, [Note: Bhīsma had the boon of being able to die when he chose.] they are free from the faults arising from these factors.” “But Bhīṣma himself has said: arthasya puruṣo dāso dāsas tv artho na kasyacit iti satyaṁ mahārāja baddho’smy arthena kauravaiḥ Man is the servant of wealth, but wealth is not the servant of anyone. This is the truth. O king, I have been bound up by wealth by the Kauravas. Mahabharata 6.41.36 Therefore, what is the great authority of those who have sold their souls out of greed for wealth? They should be killed in battle.” “Even if I kill these gurus who are unqualified because of their desire for wealth (artha kāmān), and I enjoy in this world, I cannot enjoy in the next life, for those enjoyments will be mixed with their blood (rudhira pradigdhān). It is not pure enjoyment because it has been obtained through killing them. Though contaminated with pride in fighting, they are still worthy of respect.” This statement manifests because of his continued acceptance of them as gurus.
Again, kṣatriyas do not beg; they rule. Without a kingdom, Arjuna would have nothing to rule. Ar-
juna is well aware of that, but he prefers the embarrassment of begging to the sinful reaction for
killing his worshipable superiors. Although his present life would be difficult, his future life would not
be stained with the sin of killing his guru.
Arjuna, strongly justifying his position, continues in the next verse to give his fifth and final reason
not to fight (referred to in the comment to Bg. 1.27).
2.5 गुरून् the Gurus (teachers)? अहत्वा instead of slaying? हि indeed? महानुभावान् most noble? श्रेयः better? भोक्तुम् to eat? भैक्ष्यम् alms? अपि even? इह here? लोके in the world? हत्वा having slain? अर्थकामान् desirous of wealth? तु indeed? गुरून् Gurus? इह here? एव also? भुञ्जीय enjoy? भोगान् enjoyments? रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् stained with blood.No commentary.
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- Notice when an instinct is partially right but missing the higher principle.
- Choose simplicity over enjoyment that compromises dharma.
- Take counsel before acting on a noble instinct that contradicts your guru's instruction.
- Which of my noble-sounding instincts may still be missing the highest dharma?
- When does humility become an excuse to avoid duty?
A man refuses food poured from a cup he believes to be poisoned and chooses to starve instead. The choice looks noble until one notices that the food was never poisoned — only the perception was. Arjuna would rather beg than fight, because every meal won by victory tastes of blood to him. Kṛṣṇa will purify the taste, not change the meal.
Bhīṣma himself, lying on the arrow-bed, never reproached Arjuna or any Pāṇḍava for shooting him. Before death he taught Yudhiṣṭhira the rāja-dharma and śānti-parvan teachings of the Mahābhārata.
He understood what Arjuna here cannot yet see: the elders' bodies were already pledged to Duryodhana's adharmic side, and dharma's wheel had to turn through them. The blood-tinted enjoyment Arjuna fears was, in truth, the elders' own gift of their bodies to the play of dharma.
My note
Source: vedabase.io