Sin will take hold of us in slaying them, though they are the aggressors

Arjuna Vishada Yoga

Chapter 1, Verse 37

 

tasmān nārhā vayaṁ hantuṁ 

dhārtarāṣṭrān svabandhavān 

svajanaṁ hi kathaṁ hatvā 

sukhinaḥ syāma mādhava

 

Sin will take hold of us in slaying them, though they are the aggressors. So it  

is not fit that we kill the sons of Dhritarashtra, our kinsmen; indeed how may we be happy, O Madhava, killing our own people?

 

Arjuna is looking into his own sad, mental state, and seeing the physical condition to which he has been reduced. He tells Krishna, “We should not go forward with this war. It would not be fitting to kill these people.” Again and again, he is trying to make himself believe that he can go sideways. But there is no point in going sideways.  

Krishna says, “Look forward, don’t go sideways! If there is a big fire, go through the fire! I am with you, go!” Will Arjuna listen? Will he go sideways or will he go through the fire? With trust in the Lord, you go through the fire.

 

Arjuna says, “We, Pandavas, will all be sad. How can we be happy?” He doesn’t say, “I”; he is speaking for all the Pandavas. He says, “If we kill them, we will not be happy in this life, or in the next life, because we will take on the karma of killing them.  

Above all, it is not about the karma, is about the guilt which will arise.” When guilt arises, it stays forever. Every little moment, every little thing that happens will remind one of that guilt. Arjuna says, “It will be terrible because of the guilt.”

 

Krishna is just listening and waiting for Arjuna to finish with his cry. It is like this in life. If you try to reason with a person who is in this state, it’s of no use. The Lord is just watching and saying, “Okay, carry on. Do you have more? Send it! I am listening. I am patient.”

Bhagavad Gita