अर्जुन उवाच
यथा मे न वधः कार्य आचार्यस्य कथं चन ॥
तथा तव परित्यागो न मे राजंश् चिकीर्षितः ॥
अप्य् एवं पाण्डव प्राणान् उत्सृजेयम् अहं युधि ॥
प्रतीयां नाहम् आचार्यं त्वां न जह्यां कथं चन ॥
त्वां निगृह्याहवे राजन् धार्तराष्ट्रो यम् इच्छति ॥
न स तं जीवलोके ऽस्मिन् कामं प्राप्तः कथं चन ॥
arjuna uvāca
yathā me na vadhaḥ kārya ācāryasya kathaṃ cana ||
tathā tava parityāgo na me rājaṃś cikīrṣitaḥ ||
apy evaṃ pāṇḍava prāṇān utsṛjeyam ahaṃ yudhi ||
pratīyāṃ nāham ācāryaṃ tvāṃ na jahyāṃ kathaṃ cana ||
tvāṃ nigṛhyāhave rājan dhārtarāṣṭro yam icchati ||
na sa taṃ jīvaloke 'smin kāmaṃ prāptaḥ kathaṃ cana ||
[Arjuna:] Just as the teacher [Drona] must by no means be slain by me, likewise your abandonment, O king, is not in my thought. Even so, O Pandava, I would rather give up my very life in battle; [but] I will not go against the teacher, and I will not abandon you, not for anything. That [wish] which the son of Dhritarashtra [Duryodhana] cherishes — to capture you in battle, O king — he shall by no means obtain in this world of the living.
c7e8876d3ab3 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:00:03 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Arjuna is bound by two sacred obligations at once: reverence for the teacher, whom he "will not slay for anything," and love for his elder brother, whom he "will not abandon for anything." Between them he chooses to violate neither, saying "I would rather give up my life." Thus a noble soul, when duties collide, betrays neither but is ready to pay with itself. It is telling that his loyalty to his brother is as firm for him as a law of existence: "in the world of the living, [Duryodhana] shall not obtain this." The verse teaches that true virtue does not sacrifice one duty for another but preserves both at the cost of itself; that reverence for a teacher and love for one's kin can coexist in a noble heart; and that loyalty ready to give up life is unconquerable.