Even though these (Duryodhana and others), whose discriminative intellect has been lost due to greed, do not see the sin arising from the destruction of the family and the sin arising from hostility towards friends, (still) O Janārdana! We who accurately know the sin arising from the destruction of the family, why should we not consider refraining from this sin?
Commentary: The inclination that relentlessly moves towards wealth, land, houses, respect, praise, position, authority, etc., with the thought—'This much has been obtained, let a little more be obtained; may such acquisition continue forever'—is called 'greed' (lobha). Due to this inclination of greed, the power of discrimination in these Duryodhana and others has been lost. Consequently, they are unable to consider: For the sake of which kingdom are we about to commit such a great sin, about to destroy our kinsmen? How many days will that kingdom remain with us, and how many days will we remain with it? If the kingdom departs while we are alive, what will be our condition? And if our bodies depart while the kingdom remains, what will be the condition? For, the sorrow one experiences from separation is proportionate to the pleasure one enjoys from union. Indeed, the sorrow in separation is greater than the pleasure in union. The meaning is that because greed has overshadowed their inner being, they see only the kingdom. They do not see at all how terrible a sin will result from destroying the family.
Where there is war, there is destruction of time, wealth, and strength. Various anxieties and calamities arise. Even between two friends, discord arises, and ill-feeling develops. Various disagreements occur. From disagreements arises enmity. For example, Drupada and Droṇa—both were friends since childhood. However, upon gaining a kingdom, Drupada one day insulted Droṇa and rejected that friendship. This created enmity between King Drupada and Droṇācārya. To avenge his insult, Droṇācārya had King Drupada defeated by Dhṛṣṭadyumna and took half his kingdom. In response, Drupada performed a sacrifice to destroy Droṇācārya, from which Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Draupadī were born. Thus, they are not seeing at all how terrible a sin will result from enmity with friends!
Special Point: The things we currently lack—even without them, our affairs are running, we are living well. However, when we obtain those things and then are separated from them again, the pain of their absence is great. The meaning is that the constant absence of things before was not as sorrowful as the sorrow that comes from union with things followed by separation from them. Even so, due to greed, man continually strives to obtain the things whose absence he perceives in his possession. If contemplated, even if those things, whose absence exists now, are obtained in between according to destiny, in the end, their absence alone will remain. Therefore, our state remains the same as it was before obtaining the things. In between, due to greed, only exertion upon exertion was our lot; only sorrow upon sorrow had to be endured. The little happiness that occurred in between from union with things happened solely due to greed. If there were no inner defect like greed, happiness from union with things simply cannot be. Similarly, if there were no defect like delusion (moha), happiness from kinsmen simply cannot be. If there were no defect like craving, happiness from accumulation simply cannot be. The meaning is that worldly happiness arises from some defect or another. If there is no defect at all, happiness from the world simply cannot be. However, due to greed, man cannot even contemplate this. This greed destroys his discriminative intellect.
Now Arjuna states his point: Even though Duryodhana and others do not see the sin arising from the destruction of their family and the sin arising from hostility towards friends, still we must see the series of calamities arising from the destruction of the family [which Arjuna will describe from the fortieth to the forty-fourth verses ahead]; because we know well the sins arising from the destruction of the family and we also know well the sins arising from hostility (enmity, malice) towards friends. If those friends cause us sorrow, that sorrow is not harmful for us. The reason is that sorrow will only destroy our past sins, it will only purify us. However, if there is hostility—enmity—in our mind, it will remain with us even after death and will continue to incite us to commit sins life after life, leading to our utter downfall. Why should we not consider avoiding this sin, which causes such calamities and creates hostility towards friends? That is, by considering, we must certainly avoid this sin.
Here, Arjuna's vision is directed towards the greed of Duryodhana and others, but he himself is speaking while bound by familial affection (delusion)—his vision is not directed towards this. Therefore, he is not understanding his duty. It is a rule that as long as a person's vision remains fixed on the faults of others, he does not see his own fault; on the contrary, there arises a pride that 'They have this fault, but we do not have this fault.' In such a state, he cannot even think that if they have some fault, we too may have some other fault. Even if there is no other fault, seeing the faults of others—this itself is a fault. Seeing the faults of others and having pride in one's own goodness—these two faults always coexist. Arjuna too sees faults in Duryodhana and others and has pride in his own goodness (in the shadow of pride in goodness, only faults remain), therefore he does not see the fault of delusion within himself.
Connection: What are those sins arising from the destruction of the family, which we know? The series of those sins is explained in the next five verses.
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