Chapter 1, Verse 35
एतान्न हन्तुमिच्छामि घ्नतोऽपि मधुसूदन। अपि त्रैलोक्यराज्यस्य हेतोः किं नु महीकृते।।1.35।।
etānna hantumicchāmi ghnato'pi madhusūdana. api trailokyarājyasya hetoḥ kiṃ nu mahīkṛte.1.35.
Word by word
- एतान्
- these (people)
- न
- not
- हन्तुम्
- to kill
- इच्छामि
- I wish
- घ्नतः
- (even though they are) killing / slaying
- अपि
- even/though
- मधुसूदन
- O slayer of Madhu (Krishna)
- अपि
- even
- त्रैलोक्य-राज्यस्य
- of the kingdom of the three worlds
- हेतोः
- for the sake of
- किम्
- what (to speak of)
- नु
- indeed
- महीकृते
- for the sake of the earth
Commentary
I do not wish for victory, O Krishna! nor sovereignty, nor pleasures: what is sovereignty to us, O Govinda! what enjoyments, and even life? Even those, for whose sake we desire sovereignty, enjoyments, and pleasures, are standing here for battle, abandoning life and wealth-preceptors, fathers, sons as well as grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, as also (other) relatives. These I do not wish to kill, though they kill (me), O destroyer of Madhu! even for the sake of sovereignty over the three worlds, how much less then for this earth (alone)?
Source: Alladi Mahadeva Sastri, The Bhagavad-Gita with the Commentary of Sri Shankaracharya (1897), public domain -- Shankara's commentary offers no independent gloss for this narrative verse; text is the literal translation.
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