पश्यैतान् देवकीमातर् मुमूर्षून् अद्य संयुगे ॥
भ्रातॄंस् त्रैगर्तकान् एवं रोदितव्ये प्रहर्षितान् ॥
अथ वा हर्षकालो ऽयं त्रैगर्तानाम् असंशयम् ॥
कुनरैर् दुरवापान् हि लोकान् प्राप्स्यन्त्य् अनुत्तमान् ॥
paśyaitān devakīmātar mumūrṣūn adya saṃyuge ||
bhrātṝṃs traigartakān evaṃ roditavye praharṣitān ||
atha vā harṣakālo 'yaṃ traigartānām asaṃśayam ||
kunarair duravāpān hi lokān prāpsyanty anuttamān ||
"Look, O son of Devaki, at these Trigarta brothers, doomed now to perish in battle, who exult so at an hour when tears would befit them. Or rather, this is indeed a season of rejoicing for the Trigartas, without doubt — for they will win the highest worlds, scarcely attainable for wretched men."
ff2070fc09fc · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:00:04 PM UTC
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Arjuna corrects himself — and in that correction lies the whole depth of the verse. At first he sees madness: rejoicing when tears would be fitting. But at once he perceives something else: death in honest battle, in fulfillment of a vow once given, opens for a warrior the higher worlds unattainable to those who live basely. Thus the enemy's death appears to him not as mere destruction, but as a gateway. It is telling that the one speaking is the very man who will slay them: he honors valor in his adversary and is ready to acknowledge that his blow will be, for them, not a punishment but an elevation. The verse teaches that a path on which death fulfills one's duty stands higher than a long life lived in faintheartedness; and that a noble warrior sees in a worthy enemy not prey, but a soul going forth to meet its fate.