BG 1.38 — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 1.38Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · Arjuna → Krishna · anuṣṭubh

यद्यप्येते न पश्यन्ति लोभोपहतचेतसः ।

कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं मित्रद्रोहे च पातकम् ॥

yady apy ete na paśyanti lobhopahata-cetasaḥ

kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṃ doṣaṃ mitra-drohe ca pātakam

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

meaning

Greed has so clouded their minds that they cannot see the wrong of tearing a family apart, nor the sin of turning against allies.

ekras · bhāṣya

Arjuna anticipates the obvious counter. If the war is so wrong, why are the Kauravas going through with it? "Even if these, their minds clouded by greed, do not see the evil of destroying a family, or the sin of betraying their friends..." Lobha — greed. Not the simple wanting of one more thing, but the mental position where one is always wanting more. Lobhopahata-cetasah — minds struck down by greed. The verb upahata is the same one used for being struck by a weapon. Greed has wounded the faculty of discrimination. Once the discrimination is wounded, the Kauravas cannot reason about how long the kingdom will last, how long they themselves will last, or how much suffering the loss of family will produce. They can only see the kingdom they want. The destruction is invisible to them because the mind has only one kind of seeing left. Mitra-droha — betrayal of friends. Arjuna names a second wrong the greedy mind cannot see. The Mahabharata had given an exact example: Drupada and Drona were childhood friends. When Drupada became king, he rejected the friendship and humiliated Drona; the enmity grew into the war that produced Dhrishtadyumna, born specifically to kill Drona. War starts when greed turns a friend into a category.

Context

where

Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Arjuna → Krishna

preceded by — BG 1.37

We have no right to kill the sons of Dhritarashtra, who are our own kin. How could we ever be happy, Madhava, having slain our own people?

What's going on

Greed has so clouded their minds that they cannot see the wrong of tearing a family apart, nor the sin of turning against allies.

Sūtras through this verse (99)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

1.1Means and end set out as one paired axis.───→here1.38───→2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleapproach

───→here1.38───→2.12Every soul named here is a real distinct self.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)approach

───→here1.38───→2.47Hold no mine-ness on body or on fruit.

show all 99

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaapproach · other

───→here1.38───→2.18Image perishes, source endures

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeapproach

───→here1.38───→2.18The mirror breaks but the sun is unhurt.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesapproach

───→here1.38───→2.23Even great gods are unequal in their glory.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionapproach

───→here1.38───→2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksapproach

───→here1.38───→2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadapproach

───→here1.38───→2.23Nāradīya names what reason cannot prove.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsapproach

───→here1.38───→2.39The two paths name one practice, one fruit.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeapproach

───→here1.38───→2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do aloneapproach

───→here1.38───→2.23Without worship of Hari no one ever crosses.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotapproach

───→here1.38───→2.13Self-survival is settled by śruti, not by reason.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here1.38───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here1.38───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actapproach

───→here1.38───→2.47Only a human body can do new action.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here1.38───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

───→here1.38───→2.45Rise above the modes, said in chapter two.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipapproach

───→here1.38───→2.31A warrior's own duty is the war he faces.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterapproach

───→here1.38───→2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingapproach

───→here1.38───→2.14Bear pleasure and pain as a passing season.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here1.38───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here1.38───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here1.38───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Their minds are seizedstation · other · station 8/20

───→here1.38───→

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

1.30Skin burns, mind reels───→here1.38───→2.20The unborn dehī

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

1.1Dialectical chain present from line one.───→here1.38───→2.39Nanu… tatrāha: one pair, named.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

1.2Same form repeats on the next verse.───→here1.38───→2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathapproach · v2

───→here1.38───→2.47Right to action

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourapproach · v2

───→here1.38───→2.13Bodies pass, the dehī does not

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here1.38───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here1.38───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesapproach · v2

───→here1.38───→2.41Single-pointed buddhi

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here1.38───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here1.38───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthaapproach · other

───→here1.38───→2.10Thesis flat

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseaseapproach

───→here1.38───→2.10Sorrow and delusion are the seed of saṁsāra.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downapproach

───→here1.38───→2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youapproach

───→here1.38───→2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentapproach

───→here1.38───→2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here1.38───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here1.38───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimapproach

───→here1.38───→2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here1.38───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asiapproach

───→here1.38───→2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledapproach

───→here1.38───→2.47Primary fitness needs ripened conditions.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here1.38───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyapproach

───→here1.38───→2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here1.38───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiapproach

───→here1.38───→2.47Action stays; the wish for fruit goes.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentapproach

───→here1.38───→2.39Wisdom section wound up here.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideapproach

───→here1.38───→2.13Same I as a child is now in this body.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by verseapproach

───→here1.38───→2.12Plurals block monistic absorption.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedapproach

───→here1.38───→2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaapproach

───→here1.38───→2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here1.38───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

───→here1.38───→2.13Pratyabhijñā backed by śruti citation.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

───→here1.38───→2.13Two objections, three pādas glossed.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availableapproach

───→here1.38───→2.13Recognition is literal across bodies.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥapproach

───→here1.38───→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───→here1.38───→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.───→here1.38───→2.1Pity and despair treated as guests, not host.

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanaapproach · other

───→here1.38───→2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here1.38───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipapproach

───→here1.38───→2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handapproach

───→here1.38───→2.47Middle finger. Nishkama karma plus the failure-gym. 'Karmany evadhikaras te, ma

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralapproach

───→here1.38───→2.13The memorial-register anchor. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, ta

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101approach

───→here1.38───→2.13Reincarnation pillar. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha deha

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here1.38───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netiapproach

───→here1.38───→2.13Body changes. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara.' Gaurav opens the

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

───→here1.38───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsapproach

───→here1.38───→2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landapproach

───→here1.38───→2.39Pure mind for knowing, impure mind for acting.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingapproach

───→here1.38───→2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherapproach

───→here1.38───→2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here1.38───→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.───→here1.38───→11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesbetween

1.31The despondency catalogue goes to Viṭṭhaleśa.───→here1.38───→11.21The cosmic-form catalogue is bracketed.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketapproach

───→here1.38───→2.10The teaching opens at the carama-bracket.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here1.38───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorapproach

───→here1.38───→2.12Plurals refute the unitary-self read.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionapproach

───→here1.38───→2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationapproach

───→here1.38───→2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefapproach

───→here1.38───→2.10Krishna smiles before the first mā-śucaḥ.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here1.38───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesapproach

───→here1.38───→2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderapproach

───→here1.38───→2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personapproach

───→here1.38───→2.12The eternal among the eternal, conscious among the conscious.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordapproach

───→here1.38───→2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridapproach

───→here1.38───→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.───→here1.38───→2.7I am sunk in pity; ask, do not order.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

1.1The first epithet: supremely compassionate.───→here1.38───→4.7When right wanes, I take a body.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingapproach

───→here1.38───→2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here1.38───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerapproach

───→here1.38───→2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessapproach

───→here1.38───→2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesapproach

───→here1.38───→2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)approach

───→here1.38───→2.10Bracket opens here.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)approach

───→here1.38───→2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.

Śabda · lemmas (16 unique · 16 occurrences)

यदि yadi — if
अपि api — also, even, although

show all 16

एते etad — this (proximal demonstrative) · nominative masculine plural noun
न na — not (negation particle)
पश्यन्ति dṛś — to see (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person plural verb
लोभ lobha — greed, covetousness · compound
उपहत upa-√han — (upa- + han: to slay) · compound participle (compound member)
चेतसः cetas — consciousness, mind, awareness · nominative masculine plural noun
कुल kula — family, lineage, clan · compound
क्षय kṣaya — decay, destruction (from √kṣi) · compound
कृतम् √kṛ — to do, make (verbal root) · accusative masculine singular participle noun
दोषम् doṣa — fault, defect, sin · accusative masculine singular noun
मित्र mitra — friend; the deity Mitra · compound
द्रोहे droha — malice, hatred (from √druh) · locative masculine singular noun
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
पातकम् pātaka — sin, that which causes to fall (from √pat) · accusative neuter singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If the capacity to see moral consequences (paśyati — one who sees) while others cannot creates greater obligation rather than greater freedom, at what point does moral clarity become a burden that justifies inaction rather than a mandate for action?
02Madhusūdana's śyena-yāga analogy argues that śāstra-sanction does not override aśreyas (inauspicious outcome) — but who adjudicates whether a fruit is truly aśreyas versus merely uncomfortable? Does Arjuna's grief here qualify as ethical discernment or is it rationalized avoidance?

show all 7

03The lobhopahata-cetasaḥ (greed-clouded minds) of the Kauravas preclude their seeing the doṣa — does this make them morally diminished agents whose actions should be stopped, or does it relieve them of full responsibility and shift the burden to those who do see?
04Arjuna's 'we who see' implies a moral community of the discerning — how does one sustain that community's standards without tipping into self-righteousness, when the very act of distinguishing oneself from the blind risks becoming its own form of ahaṃkāra (ego)?
05The verse pivots from 'they do not see' to 'why should we not desist' — this is a movement from descriptive observation to normative obligation. What theory of moral agency is required to make that transition valid?
06Each school reads Arjuna's seeing differently: as nascent viveka (Advaita), as kainkarya-readiness (Viśiṣṭādvaita), as jīva-grade expression (Dvaita), as līlā-apparatus (Śuddhādvaita), as bhakti-sensitivity (Bhakti), as śreyaḥ-discernment (Advaita-bhakti) — what does this range of interpretations reveal about the relationship between ethical perception and soteriological framework?
07If Arjuna is correct that WE see what they cannot, the Gītā's subsequent arc will show that his seeing is itself incomplete — Kṛṣṇa will expand it over 18 chapters. What kind of epistemic humility does this demand from anyone who believes they are among those who 'see'?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you recognize that colleagues, family members, or institutions are acting from lobha (greed) or fear and cannot perceive the harm they are causing, the Advaita teaching cautions against immediately converting that recognition into a superior-inferior identity. Use the discernment as a prompt for viveka (discrimination) — ask what the ātman in you perceives versus what the ahaṃkāra (I-maker) is adding — before deciding how to act or disengage.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

In the Viśiṣṭādvaita frame, your capacity to see the long-term harm of an action where others are blind is not your achievement to take credit for — it is Bhagavān's grace already operating in you as kainkarya-fitness (readiness for service). Treat it as an invitation: the seeing obligates you to offer what you have perceived back to the situation as an act of service (kainkarya), not as a platform for self-assertion. Speak what you see as a gift, not a verdict.

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Dvaita

Madhva's framework suggests that not all minds have equal access to ethical clarity at a given moment — this is not a permanent hierarchy but a reflection of where each jīva currently stands in relation to Hari's guidance. When you find yourself able to see consequences that others cannot, the Dvaita practical instruction is to act on that clarity without delay, since the capacity to see is itself a form of Hari's will being expressed through you; withholding action out of false modesty is its own form of resistance to that will.

Śuddhādvaita

The Puṣṭi-mārga teaching holds that moments when your heart breaks open — when you see the harm and feel the compassion that others cannot — are Kṛṣṇa's own composition, arranged so that your surrender (śaraṇāgati) can deepen. Do not manage or suppress the grief or the moral distress that comes with seeing clearly. Let it carry you to Kṛṣṇa rather than to paralysis: the distress is the door, and prasāda (Kṛṣṇa's gift) flows precisely through the opening that karuṇā (compassion) creates.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's bhakti-philological sensibility teaches that the person who can perceive pātaka (sin) in betrayal — who feels the weight of mitra-droha (betrayal of allies) even before it occurs — is already oriented toward Bhagavān's dharma-preserving function. In daily life, this means trusting the moral sensitivity that makes you reluctant when others rush forward: that reluctance is not weakness but a form of attunement. Act from the sensitivity rather than suppressing it to match the crowd's momentum.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's śyena-yāga test offers a practical ethical criterion: before acting on something that is technically permitted — by rule, by convention, by professional norm — ask whether its foreseeable fruit is bound to aśreyas (harm to the deep good of those affected). If yes, the permission is overridden by the deeper dharma. This applies whenever institutional or social sanction exists for something that your clearer vision tells you will cause kula-kṣaya (destruction of what matters most, whether a family, a team, or a community): sanction is not the same as rightness, and seeing that distinction is itself the first act of integrity.

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 38: Arjuna to Krishna — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga