BG 1.35 — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 1.35Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · Arjuna → Krishna · Madhusūdana · anuṣṭubh

एतान् न हन्तुमिच्छामि घ्नतो ऽपि मधुसूदन ।

अपि त्रैलोक्यराज्यस्य हेतोः किं नु महीकृते ॥

etān na hantum icchāmi ghnato 'pi madhusūdana

api trailokya-rājyasya hetoḥ kiṃ nu mahī-kṛte

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

meaning

I would not kill these men even if they come to kill me, Madhusūdana. Not for sovereignty over all three worlds, let alone this earth.

ekras · bhāṣya

Arjuna's refusal becomes total. "I would not kill them, Madhusudana, even if they come to kill me. Not for sovereignty of the three worlds, let alone this earth." The position is now absolute. He has moved from "I do not want victory" to "I will not kill them even if they kill me." The reciprocity that makes a war function — they attack, we attack back; they greed, we greed back — has been refused unilaterally. Arjuna has stepped out of the loop.

Ramsukhdas Maharaj reads this through the kshatriya logic of war. War is fought either to ward off harm (anger-driven) or to gain something (greed-driven). Arjuna refuses both. Even if they attack me out of anger, I will not kill them out of mine. Even if they kill for greed, I will not kill for mine. The address Madhusudana is the sharp choice.

Madhusudana — slayer of the demon Madhu — is one of Krishna's names that points directly at his role as killer. Arjuna calls Krishna by the killing-name precisely while refusing to kill. The address could be heard as: you who killed when killing was right, I am refusing to kill even when killing might be right. Not for sovereignty of the three worlds — svarga, bhumi, patala. Let alone this earth. The escalation is absolute. There is no prize that would make this killing worthwhile.

Context

where

Chapter 1 · Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Arjuna → Krishna · vocative Madhusūdana

preceded by — BG 1.34

Teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other kinsmen by marriage, Arjuna says, stand arrayed before him on this field.

What's going on

I would not kill these men even if they come to kill me, Madhusūdana. Not for sovereignty over all three worlds, let alone this earth.

Sūtras through this verse (99)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

1.1Means and end set out as one paired axis.───→here1.35───→2.39Wisdom closes, action opens. Same axis.

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleapproach

───→here1.35───→2.12Every soul named here is a real distinct self.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)approach

───→here1.35───→2.47Hold no mine-ness on body or on fruit.

show all 99

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaapproach · other

───→here1.35───→2.18Image perishes, source endures

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeapproach

───→here1.35───→2.18The mirror breaks but the sun is unhurt.

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesapproach

───→here1.35───→2.23Even great gods are unequal in their glory.

MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionapproach

───→here1.35───→2.50Release is embodied, blissful, never merging.

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksapproach

───→here1.35───→2.18The image perishes, but the source endures.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadapproach

───→here1.35───→2.23Nāradīya names what reason cannot prove.

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsapproach

───→here1.35───→2.39The two paths name one practice, one fruit.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeapproach

───→here1.35───→2.46Scripture is a small well when the flood arrives.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do aloneapproach

───→here1.35───→2.23Without worship of Hari no one ever crosses.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotapproach

───→here1.35───→2.13Self-survival is settled by śruti, not by reason.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoireapproach

───→here1.35───→2.55'Self' here means mind — a single word redirects.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here1.35───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actapproach

───→here1.35───→2.47Only a human body can do new action.

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionapproach

───→here1.35───→2.55Drop desire, and the sense of doing falls.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

───→here1.35───→2.45Rise above the modes, said in chapter two.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipapproach

───→here1.35───→2.31A warrior's own duty is the war he faces.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterapproach

───→here1.35───→2.41A one-pointed mind is the seeker's mark.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingapproach

───→here1.35───→2.14Bear pleasure and pain as a passing season.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roomapproach

───→here1.35───→2.55Each path names its sage in its own words.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsapproach

───→here1.35───→3.37The enemy is desire turning into anger.

RamsukhdasclassicalK

The body is not yoursapproach

───→here1.35───→3.27The modes act, but ego claims the deed.

Ekrasmodernfamily_conflict

Not for the three worldsstation · other · station 5/20

───→here1.35───→

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

1.30Skin burns, mind reels───→here1.35───→2.20The unborn dehī

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

1.1Dialectical chain present from line one.───→here1.35───→2.39Nanu… tatrāha: one pair, named.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

1.2Same form repeats on the next verse.───→here1.35───→2.10Word-fit holds even at the dialogue's pivot.

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathapproach · v2

───→here1.35───→2.47Right to action

Ekrasmodernend_of_life

End of life — the threshold tourapproach · v2

───→here1.35───→2.13Bodies pass, the dehī does not

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentapproach · v2

───→here1.35───→2.55Sthitaprajna defined

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionapproach · v2

───→here1.35───→3.20Janaka, lokasangraha

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesapproach · v2

───→here1.35───→2.41Single-pointed buddhi

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvaapproach · v2

───→here1.35───→3.27Modes act, ego claims

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementapproach · other

───→here1.35───→2.62Brooding breeds attachment

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthaapproach · other

───→here1.35───→2.10Thesis flat

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseaseapproach

───→here1.35───→2.10Sorrow and delusion are the seed of saṁsāra.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downapproach

───→here1.35───→2.10First lay down all action, then knowledge frees.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youapproach

───→here1.35───→2.10Some say: combine knowledge with rites.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentapproach

───→here1.35───→2.39So far for the seeker of the real; now hear yoga.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemyapproach

───→here1.35───→2.69Wisdom rises; ignorance fades like dawn-darkness.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldapproach

───→here1.35───→3.20Janaka acted only to hold the world together.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimapproach

───→here1.35───→2.10Pāṇḍitya is knowing the Self — Bṛhadāraṇyaka.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedapproach

───→here1.35───→2.72Standing in this state, one reaches Brahman..

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asiapproach

───→here1.35───→2.1First hexad opens, tvam-pada implicit.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledapproach

───→here1.35───→2.47Primary fitness needs ripened conditions.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsapproach

───→here1.35───→3.1Buddhi-vyākulatva named the seed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyapproach

───→here1.35───→2.47No-fruit ≠ no-karma: kāmya-tyāga ≠ nitya-tyāga.

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateapproach

───→here1.35───→2.55A description, not a command. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiapproach

───→here1.35───→2.47Action stays; the wish for fruit goes.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentapproach

───→here1.35───→2.39Wisdom section wound up here.

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideapproach

───→here1.35───→2.13Same I as a child is now in this body.

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by verseapproach

───→here1.35───→2.12Plurals block monistic absorption.

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedapproach

───→here1.35───→2.13One-self-many-bodies runs out of grammar.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaapproach

───→here1.35───→2.39Wrap prior section, then announce next.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsapproach

───→here1.35───→3.15Brahmodbhavam — born of parabrahman.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

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

───→here1.35───→2.13Pratyabhijñā backed by śruti citation.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

───→here1.35───→2.13Two objections, three pādas glossed.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availableapproach

───→here1.35───→2.13Recognition is literal across bodies.

JayatīrthaclassicalJ

Reading the silence — iti śeṣaḥ and iti bhāvaḥapproach

───→here1.35───→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───→here1.35───→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.───→here1.35───→2.1Pity and despair treated as guests, not host.

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanaapproach · other

───→here1.35───→2.47Fruit-free action cannot bind

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningapproach

───→here1.35───→2.62'Dhyayato vishayan pumsah sangas teshupajayate, sangat sanjayate kamah.' The out

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipapproach

───→here1.35───→2.48'Yoga-sthah kuru karmani sangam tyaktva Dhananjaya, siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handapproach

───→here1.35───→2.47Middle finger. Nishkama karma plus the failure-gym. 'Karmany evadhikaras te, ma

Gauravmodernmemorial_pastoral

Memorial Pastoralapproach

───→here1.35───→2.13The memorial-register anchor. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, ta

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101approach

───→here1.35───→2.13Reincarnation pillar. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara, tatha deha

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidapproach

───→here1.35───→3.3'Loke'smin dvi-vidha nishtha pura prokta mayanagha, jnana-yogena samkhyanam karm

Gauravmodernwitness_self_neti_neti

Witness Self Neti Netiapproach

───→here1.35───→2.13Body changes. 'Dehino'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara.' Gaurav opens the

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

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

───→here1.35───→3.1The whole map laid out at chapter three's door.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsapproach

───→here1.35───→2.39Two minds, two paths, never one rule for all.

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landapproach

───→here1.35───→2.39Pure mind for knowing, impure mind for acting.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingapproach

───→here1.35───→2.47Action offered, fruit-free, cannot bear bondage.

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherapproach

───→here1.35───→2.39Like light and dark, they cannot share a place.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runapproach

───→here1.35───→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.───→here1.35───→11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesbetween

1.31The despondency catalogue goes to Viṭṭhaleśa.───→here1.35───→11.21The cosmic-form catalogue is bracketed.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketapproach

───→here1.35───→2.10The teaching opens at the carama-bracket.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentapproach

───→here1.35───→3.30'Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi': read as antaryāmin.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorapproach

───→here1.35───→2.12Plurals refute the unitary-self read.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionapproach

───→here1.35───→2.39What chapter 3 will resolve, named here.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationapproach

───→here1.35───→2.39Sāṅkhya and yoga: not two roads.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefapproach

───→here1.35───→2.10Krishna smiles before the first mā-śucaḥ.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedapproach

───→here1.35───→3.1Drop something inside the act, not the act.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesapproach

───→here1.35───→2.1Six-verse prelude lays out the whole map.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderapproach

───→here1.35───→2.39The yoga-mind is just the sāṅkhya-mind, retold.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personapproach

───→here1.35───→2.12The eternal among the eternal, conscious among the conscious.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordapproach

───→here1.35───→2.48Yoga itself is just sameness of mind.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridapproach

───→here1.35───→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.───→here1.35───→2.7I am sunk in pity; ask, do not order.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

1.1The first epithet: supremely compassionate.───→here1.35───→4.7When right wanes, I take a body.

ŚrīdharaclassicalE

Inner cleansing reconciles work and knowingapproach

───→here1.35───→2.39Work polishes the inner instrument first.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerapproach

───→here1.35───→3.30Lay every act in Me; I move within.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerapproach

───→here1.35───→2.24The self is one unbroken awareness.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessapproach

───→here1.35───→2.45Exit the modes — not better modes are the goal.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesapproach

───→here1.35───→2.20Cit alone — the self cannot be destroyed.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)approach

───→here1.35───→2.10Bracket opens here.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)approach

───→here1.35───→2.47Act, but not for the fruit of acting.

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 15 occurrences)

अपि api ×2 — also, even, although
एतान् etad — this (proximal demonstrative) · accusative masculine plural noun

show all 14

न na — not (negation particle)
हन्तुम् han — to slay, kill, strike (verbal root) · infinitive
इच्छामि iṣ — to wish, desire (verbal root) · present indicative 1st person singular verb
घ्नतः √han — to slay, kill, strike (verbal root) · accusative masculine plural present participle verb
मधुसूदन madhusūdana — slayer of the demon Madhu (epithet of Kṛṣṇa) · vocative masculine singular noun · also at 2.1, 2.4, 6.33, 8.2
त्रैलोक्य trailokya — the three worlds (from triloka) · compound
राज्यस्य rājya — kingdom, sovereignty · genitive neuter singular noun
हेतोः hetu — cause, reason, motive · ablative masculine singular noun
किम् ka — who? what? (interrogative) · nominative neuter singular noun
नु nu — now, indeed (particle)
मही mahī — the earth, great one (fem. of mahat) · compound
कृते kṛte — for the sake of, on account of (loc. of kṛta)

Praśna · so what (7)

01Arjuna says the renunciation holds 'even for trailokya-rājya' — is this moral clarity or is it still a form of attachment, the ego protecting what it loves by dressing refusal as virtue?
02The a fortiori scaling (three worlds → mere earth) works rhetorically, but does it do philosophical work? What does it reveal about how Arjuna calculates the price of violence?

show all 7

03Madhusūdana reads Arjuna as invoking the hierarchy of dharma-śāstra over artha-śāstra — is this the sophisticated argument of a principled reasoner, or post-hoc rationalisation of grief?
04Rāmānuja marks Arjuna as 'mahāmanāḥ' and 'paramakāruṇika' — does the tradition's sympathy for Arjuna here signal that compassion, even when paralyzing, is a virtue that must be transformed rather than suppressed?
05Śrīdhara's gloss surfaces the obvious counter-argument first (if you don't kill them, they will kill you) — in how many contemporary ethical dilemmas does this realpolitik objection override a compassion-based refusal, and is Arjuna's answer to it sufficient?
06Three of six schools have no bhāṣya for this verse. What does it mean for the tradition's treatment of Book 1 as a whole that the most philosophically detailed schools begin their commentary only at 2.10?
07The verse ends with a question ('kiṃ nu mahī-kṛte?') — does leaving the utterance as a question rather than an assertion change the force of Arjuna's position? Is he asking Kṛṣṇa to refute him?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you find yourself refusing to take a painful-but-necessary action — a hard conversation, ending a relationship, leaving a role — examine whether 'I don't want to do this even for the greatest gain' is genuine non-attachment (vairāgya) or whether you are calling moha by the name of compassion. Advaita would ask: who is the 'I' that refuses? Sit with that question before acting or not acting.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Rāmānuja's Arjuna is not weak — he is a person of great soul (mahāmanāḥ) whose love for those he serves has overwhelmed his capacity to act. In caregiving, leadership, or parenting, there are moments when love-as-paralysis masquerades as love-as-wisdom. The Viśiṣṭādvaita teaching here: acknowledging that your body is trembling and your bow has dropped is not failure — it is the honest first step before Bhagavān's grace can redirect bandhu-sneha into kainkarya (consecrated service).

show all 6

Dvaita

When your stated reason for not acting is 'I don't want to' (icchāmi-framing), Dvaita's discipline asks a prior question: whose want is this? If your role as spouse, colleague, citizen, or professional places a duty before you, the question is not whether you wish to discharge it but whether Hari's will — which operates through sva-dharma — is being displaced by personal preference. The practice is to pause at 'I don't want to' and inquire whether the 'I' is speaking or the duty is speaking.

Śuddhādvaita

Puṣṭi-mārga would recognise those moments when you are so overwhelmed by love for someone — a child, a friend, a community — that you cannot bring yourself to act in ways that might cause them discomfort, even when that discomfort is necessary for their flourishing. The teaching is not to harden yourself but to offer the incapacity to Kṛṣṇa directly: 'I am unable; let Your prasāda move through me.' The paralysis becomes the prayer.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's practical gloss is the most immediately useful: when someone close to you is acting destructively and the realpolitik voice says 'act first before they harm you more,' Arjuna's answer is to name the actual stake. Ask: what is the largest conceivable gain that would make this harm worth it? Then check whether the gain being offered — the mahī, the mere earth of this situation — clears that bar. Usually it does not. The a fortiori argument is a daily ethical tool.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's hierarchical reading — dharma-śāstra outranks artha-śāstra when they conflict — translates directly: when an efficiency argument ('it's rational to do X') collides with a values argument ('X causes harm'), do not resolve the conflict by pretending both sides are equal. Identify which framework sits higher in your own hierarchy of commitments, and name it explicitly. Madhusūdana's Arjuna does this publicly, in front of Kṛṣṇa. The practice is to do the same — articulate the hierarchy before acting, not after.

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 35: Arjuna to Krishna — Arjuna-Viṣāda-Yoga