Verse 1.31

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.31:

न च श्रेयोऽनुपश्यामि हत्वा स्वजनम् आहवे ।
न काङ्क्षे विजयं कृष्ण न च राज्यं सुखानि च ॥ ३१ ॥

na ca śreyo'nupaśyāmi hatvā svajanam āhave |
na kāṅkṣe vijayaṃ kṛṣṇa na ca rājyaṃ sukhāni ca || 31 ||

na–not; ca–also; śreyaḥ–auspiciousness; anupaśyāmi–I see; hatvā–by killing; sva-janam–own relatives; āhave–in battle; na–nor; kāṅkṣe–do I desire; vijayam–victory; kṛṣṇa–O Kṛṣṇa; na–nor; ca–as well; rājyam–kingdom; sukhāni–pleasures; ca–also.

O Kṛṣṇa, I do not see how anything auspicious can arise from killing my own kinsmen in battle. Nor do I desire victory, the resulting kingdom, or even happiness.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Śreyo na paśyāmīti means ‘I do not see anything auspicious’. The renunciants who have attained perfection in yoga and also the heroes who are killed in battle attain the celestial sun planet. From this statement it appears that a person who is killed in battle attains auspiciousness, but one who kills receives no such pious result. One may question this by saying that a person who kills and is victorious in battle will certainly receive both fame and the pleasure of sovereignty over a kingdom; therefore, it is beneficial for Arjuna to fight. In answer to this, Arjuna says, “na kāṅkṣe–I do not desire this.”