BG 1.32 — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 1.32Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · Arjuna → Krishna · Krishna (also: Govinda) · anuṣṭubh

न काङ्क्षे विजयं कृष्ण न च राज्यं सुखानि च ।

किं नो राज्येन गोविन्द किं भोगैर् जीवितेन वा ॥

na kāṅkṣe vijayaṃ kṛṣṇa na ca rājyaṃ sukhāni ca

kiṃ no rājyena govinda kiṃ bhogair jīvitena vā

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Krishna, I want none of this, not victory, not a kingdom, not its pleasures. What use is sovereignty to us, Govinda? What use are enjoyments, or life itself?

ekras · bhāṣya

Arjuna names what he doesn't want. "Krishna, I want neither victory, nor kingdom, nor pleasures. What use is the kingdom to us, Govinda? What use are enjoyments, or even life itself?" Three things refused, then a question that hollows them out. The refusal sequence is comprehensive. Na kankshe vijayam — I do not desire victory. Na ca rajyam — nor kingdom. Na sukhani — nor pleasures. Three ascending categories: the act of winning, the prize won, the enjoyment of the prize. The reasoning. Kim no rajyena — what use is the kingdom to us, Govinda? The kingdom is FOR the family. The pleasures are TO BE SHARED with the family. The life is TO BE SPENT with the family. If our killing is what produces the kingdom, the people for whom it is meant will be dead. The reward becomes hollow at the moment of winning. Govinda is one of Krishna's names. Go can mean "cow," "senses," or "earth." Govinda is "protector of cows," "knower of senses," "recoverer of the earth." Arjuna picks the cosmic-protector name to ask Krishna what good is the earth itself, if those for whom we conquer it are dead. The refusal is real and the reasoning carries weight. The Gita will not dismiss it. But the Gita will also not accept that the answer to a war is renunciation of the future the war serves.

Context

where

Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Arjuna → Krishna · vocative Krishna (also: Govinda)

preceded by — BG 1.31

Arjuna says: I see only bad omens, Keśava, and I can find no good in killing my own people in this battle.

What's going on

Krishna, I want none of this, not victory, not a kingdom, not its pleasures. What use is sovereignty to us, Govinda? What use are enjoyments, or life itself?

Sūtras through this verse (99)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

1.1Means and end set out as one paired axis.───→here1.32───→2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleapproach

───→here1.32───→2.12Every soul named here is a real distinct self.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)approach

───→here1.32───→2.47Hold no mine-ness on body or on fruit.

show all 99

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaapproach · other

───→here1.32───→2.18Image perishes, source endures

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeapproach

───→here1.32───→2.18The mirror breaks but the sun is unhurt.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesapproach

───→here1.32───→2.23Even great gods are unequal in their glory.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionapproach

───→here1.32───→2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksapproach

───→here1.32───→2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadapproach

───→here1.32───→2.23Nāradīya names what reason cannot prove.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsapproach

───→here1.32───→2.39The two paths name one practice, one fruit.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeapproach

───→here1.32───→2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do aloneapproach

───→here1.32───→2.23Without worship of Hari no one ever crosses.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotapproach

───→here1.32───→2.13Self-survival is settled by śruti, not by reason.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here1.32───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here1.32───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actapproach

───→here1.32───→2.47Only a human body can do new action.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here1.32───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workapproach

───→here1.32───→2.45Rise above the modes, said in chapter two.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipapproach

───→here1.32───→2.31A warrior's own duty is the war he faces.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterapproach

───→here1.32───→2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingapproach

───→here1.32───→2.14Bear pleasure and pain as a passing season.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here1.32───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here1.32───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here1.32───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

No wish for victorystation · other · station 2/20

───→here1.32───→

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

1.30Skin burns, mind reels───→here1.32───→2.20The unborn dehī

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

1.1Dialectical chain present from line one.───→here1.32───→2.39Nanu… tatrāha: one pair, named.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

1.2Same form repeats on the next verse.───→here1.32───→2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathapproach · v2

───→here1.32───→2.47Right to action

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourapproach · v2

───→here1.32───→2.13Bodies pass, the dehī does not

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here1.32───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here1.32───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesapproach · v2

───→here1.32───→2.41Single-pointed buddhi

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here1.32───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here1.32───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthaapproach · other

───→here1.32───→2.10Thesis flat

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseaseapproach

───→here1.32───→2.10Sorrow and delusion are the seed of saṁsāra.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downapproach

───→here1.32───→2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youapproach

───→here1.32───→2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentapproach

───→here1.32───→2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here1.32───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here1.32───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimapproach

───→here1.32───→2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here1.32───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asiapproach

───→here1.32───→2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledapproach

───→here1.32───→2.47Primary fitness needs ripened conditions.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here1.32───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyapproach

───→here1.32───→2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here1.32───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiapproach

───→here1.32───→2.47Action stays; the wish for fruit goes.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentapproach

───→here1.32───→2.39Wisdom section wound up here.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideapproach

───→here1.32───→2.13Same I as a child is now in this body.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by verseapproach

───→here1.32───→2.12Plurals block monistic absorption.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedapproach

───→here1.32───→2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaapproach

───→here1.32───→2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here1.32───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātraapproach

───→here1.32───→2.13Pratyabhijñā backed by śruti citation.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhaapproach

───→here1.32───→2.13Two objections, three pādas glossed.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availableapproach

───→here1.32───→2.13Recognition is literal across bodies.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥapproach

───→here1.32───→2.11Madhva first speaks, Jayatīrtha supplies.

Gauravmoderneminem_dsm_arjuna

Eminem Dsm Arjunabetween

1.30'Gandivam sramsate hastat tvak chaiva paridahyate, na cha shaknomy avasthatum bh───→here1.32───→2.3Krishna's first response. 'Klaibyam ma sma gamah Partha naitat tvayy upapadyate.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

1.1Discrimination overrun by grief and confusion.───→here1.32───→2.1Pity and despair treated as guests, not host.

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanaapproach · other

───→here1.32───→2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here1.32───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipapproach

───→here1.32───→2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handapproach

───→here1.32───→2.47Middle finger. Nishkama karma plus the failure-gym. 'Karmany evadhikaras te, ma

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralapproach

───→here1.32───→2.13The memorial-register anchor. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, ta

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101approach

───→here1.32───→2.13Reincarnation pillar. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha deha

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here1.32───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netiapproach

───→here1.32───→2.13Body changes. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara.' Gaurav opens the

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningapproach

───→here1.32───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsapproach

───→here1.32───→2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landapproach

───→here1.32───→2.39Pure mind for knowing, impure mind for acting.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingapproach

───→here1.32───→2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherapproach

───→here1.32───→2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here1.32───→3.1The architecture ends in living-liberation, then bodily.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalJ

Sañjaya's frame — evidentiary, not ornamentalbetween

1.2Dṛṣṭvā tu — Sañjaya speaks to be heard later.───→here1.32───→11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesbetween

1.31The despondency catalogue goes to Viṭṭhaleśa.───→here1.32───→11.21The cosmic-form catalogue is bracketed.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketapproach

───→here1.32───→2.10The teaching opens at the carama-bracket.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here1.32───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorapproach

───→here1.32───→2.12Plurals refute the unitary-self read.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionapproach

───→here1.32───→2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationapproach

───→here1.32───→2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefapproach

───→here1.32───→2.10Krishna smiles before the first mā-śucaḥ.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here1.32───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesapproach

───→here1.32───→2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderapproach

───→here1.32───→2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personapproach

───→here1.32───→2.12The eternal among the eternal, conscious among the conscious.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordapproach

───→here1.32───→2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridapproach

───→here1.32───→2.11Vallabha quotes his own Nibandha at verse two.

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

1.1A raft of teaching crosses the grief-sea.───→here1.32───→2.7I am sunk in pity; ask, do not order.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

1.1The first epithet: supremely compassionate.───→here1.32───→4.7When right wanes, I take a body.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingapproach

───→here1.32───→2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here1.32───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerapproach

───→here1.32───→2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessapproach

───→here1.32───→2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesapproach

───→here1.32───→2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)approach

───→here1.32───→2.10Bracket opens here.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)approach

───→here1.32───→2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 17 occurrences)

सुखानि sukha — happiness, pleasure, ease · accusative neuter plural noun

show all 13

न na ×2 — not (negation particle)
च ca ×2 — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
राज्यम्·राज्येन rājya ×2 — kingdom, sovereignty · accusative neuter singular noun / instrumental neuter singular noun
किम् ka ×2 — who? what? (interrogative) · nominative neuter singular noun
काङ्क्षे √kāṅkṣ — to desire, long for (verbal root) · present indicative 1st person singular verb
विजयम् vijaya — victory (vi- + √ji 'conquer') · accusative masculine singular noun
कृष्ण kṛṣṇa — Kṛṣṇa; black, dark · vocative masculine singular noun · also at 1.1, 1.28, 1.29, 1.30, 1.41, 5.1 +10
नः mad — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · genitive plural noun
गोविन्द govinda — Govinda (epithet of Kṛṣṇa, 'cow-finder/herder') · vocative masculine singular noun
भोगैः bhoga — enjoyment, experience (sensual) · instrumental masculine plural noun
जीवितेन jīvita — life, lived (past-pple. of √jīv) · instrumental neuter singular noun
वा vā — or; either-or; (also: alternative)

Praśna · so what (7)

01When Arjuna says he does not desire vijaya (victory), rājya (kingship), or jīvita (life) — is this the speech of a liberated mind or a grief-struck one, and what would mark the difference?
02Madhusūdana argues that phala-kāṅkṣā (desire for fruit) is the structural engine of all upāya-pravṛtti (means-engagement): if that is true, can action without desire be coherent at all, or does the Gītā's entire subsequent argument have to construct a different engine?

show all 7

03Śrīdhara shows the instrumental chain collapsing: the people for whom rājya was desired are now themselves instruments of the war. Does this make Arjuna's renunciation logically sound or does it expose a deeper confusion about the nature of obligation?
04Rāmānuja presents Arjuna as mahāmanāḥ (great-souled) and paramakāruṇika (supremely compassionate) — virtues. Yet those virtues are precisely what disable him here. What does this say about the relationship between moral virtue and right action?
05The address 'Govinda' recurs in the verse: Madhusūdana reads it as invoking Kṛṣṇa as inner witness of vairāgya. What changes if we read the address not as a philosophical signal but as an intimate cry — and do those two readings conflict?
06From a Dvaita standpoint, Arjuna has correctly negated self-interest but has not yet re-anchored action in Hari's will. Is that re-anchoring a further step beyond vairāgya, or is mature vairāgya already identical with dāsya (servanthood)?
07If the Puṣṭi-mārga reading is right that surrendering rājya as an offering within Kṛṣṇa's līlā transforms the act — what is the precise moment at which a renunciation becomes a gift rather than a collapse?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When every instrumental goal you have set — the project, the title, the relationship, the outcome — suddenly appears to depend on sacrificing the very people it was meant to serve, pause before acting. The Advaita pointer in this verse is not to give up, but to use the collapse of goal-structure as an invitation to ask: whose wanting was this? Sitting with that question — rather than immediately replacing the old goal with a new one — is the daily practice of viveka (discrimination) that Śaṅkara treats as preparation for genuine insight.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Rāmānuja's Arjuna is praiseworthy precisely because he feels bandhu-sneha (kinship-love) and karuṇā (compassion) so deeply that he cannot act mechanically. In relationships where you must choose between institutional duty and care for the person in front of you, the Viśiṣṭādvaita counsel is: do not suppress the compassion — let it be felt fully, then ask whether that compassion is being offered upward toward Bhagavān or merely cycling inward as paralysis. The sweat on every limb is not weakness; it is the cost of moral seriousness.

show all 6

Dvaita

When you catch yourself refusing to act because you see no personal gain, examine carefully: is this genuine disinterest or is it disguised self-pity? The Dvaita teaching is that neither self-interest nor self-rejection is sufficient — the operative question is always 'whose project is this?' If you cannot identify any authority beyond yourself whose command this action serves, the renunciation is as ego-driven as the ambition it replaced.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's Puṣṭi-mārga teaches that every object you release creates space in which Kṛṣṇa's prasāda (grace) can arrive. But the release must be directed — not merely a dropping of the bag, but a placing of it at Kṛṣṇa's feet. In daily life: when a plan you loved falls apart, the Puṣṭi-mārga practice is a conscious offering — 'this was yours to give or withdraw' — rather than simply feeling bereft. The difference between renunciation and surrender is whether there is a recipient.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's point is structurally precise: when the people you are working for have themselves entered the fire — when the colleague you were protecting has already resigned, when the child you were sacrificing for has already left — the purpose-chain breaks, and continuing in the old role is no longer service but habit. The everyday application is a willingness to re-examine whether your current effort is still genuinely serving anyone, or whether it is serving a story about yourself as someone who serves.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's analysis of phala-kāṅkṣā (desire for fruit) as the engine of action offers a practical diagnostic: before beginning any significant undertaking, ask honestly whether there is a fruit you actually want — and if you find none, do not conclude you are therefore spiritually advanced. Absence of desire can mean liberation; it can also mean depression. The Govinda address in the verse is the key: Kṛṣṇa as inner witness of the indriyas (senses) already knows which it is. The practice is to bring that same unflinching inner witnessing to your own motivational states before assuming the action is pointless.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 1, Verse 32: Arjuna to Krishna — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga