1.33. Those for whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyments and pleasures, stand here in battle, having renounced life and wealth.

1.30 1.34 Na ca sreyah, etc., upto mahikrte. Those who are wrongly conceived as object of slaying, with the individualizing idea that 'these are my teachers etc.'8 would necessarily generate sin. Similarly, the act of slaying even of those deserving to be slain in the battle-if undertaken with the idea that 'This battle is to be fought for the apparent results like pleasures, happiness etc.'- then it generates sin necessarily. This idea lurks in the objection [of Arjuna]. That is why a reply is going to be given [by Bhagavat] as 'You must undertake actions simply as your own duty, and not with an individualizing idea'.

For whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyments, and pleasures—they themselves, abandoning all hope for their lives and wealth, stand arrayed for battle. Commentary: "For whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyments, and pleasures"—We do not desire the kingdom, happiness, enjoyments, etc., that we seek for our personal pleasure. Rather, we desire them solely for the sake of these relatives, beloved ones, friends, and so on. It is so that the teachers, fathers, grandfathers, sons, etc., may attain happiness and comfort, that they may be served, that they may remain content—for this alone we wish to win the kingdom by fighting and wish to gather the means of enjoyment. "But they themselves, abandoning their lives and wealth, stand arrayed for battle"—Yet, all of these very people, giving up all hope for their lives and wealth, stand before us on this battlefield, ready for war. They have resolved thus: "We have no attachment to life nor thirst for wealth; we may well die, but we shall not retreat from battle." If all of them are to perish, for whom then do we desire the kingdom? For whom do we desire happiness? For whom do we desire wealth? That is, for whose sake should we cherish desire for all these? The meaning of "abandoning their lives and wealth" is that they stand having renounced all hope for life and wealth—that is, they stand having given up the desire, "We shall survive and we shall gain wealth." If they had desire for life and wealth, why would they stand in battle to die? Therefore, here, the meaning of abandoning life and wealth lies solely in abandoning the hope for them. Connection: Arjuna will describe in the next two verses who these people are, for whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyments, and happiness.