न च श्रेयोऽनुपश्यामि हत्वा स्वजनमाहवे ।न काङ्क्षे विजयं कृष्ण न च राज्यं सुखानि च ॥
na ca śreyo’nupaśyāmi hatvā svajanamāhavena kāṅkṣe vijayaṃ kṛṣṇa na ca rājyaṃ sukhāni ca
Nor do I see any good in slaying my own people in battle; O Krishna, I desire not victory, nor kingdom, nor pleasures.
Gītā 1·31The first result is a violent sensational and physical crisis which produces a disgust of the action and its material objects and of life itself. He rejects the vital aim pursued by egoistic humanity in its action,—happiness and enjoyment; he rejects the vital aim of the Kshatriya, victory and rule and power and the government of men. What after all is this fight for justice when reduced to its practical terms, but just this, a fight for the interests of himself, his brothers and his party, for possession and enjoyment and rule? But at such a cost these things are not worth having. For they are of no value in themselves, but only as a means to the right maintenance of social and national life and it is these very aims that in the person of his kin and his race he is about to destroy.
