Nihatya Dhartarashtran

Arjuna raises a piercing question: O Janardana, what joy could we possibly gain from killing the sons of Dhritarashtra? Even though they are aggressors, slaying them would only bring sin upon us.

There is a deep tension in this verse. The shastras state clearly that an aggressor — an atatayee — may be killed without incurring sin. Arjuna knows this rule. But he cannot bring himself to apply it here, because these aggressors are also his own flesh and blood. It is like a family where someone has gone down a wrong path. Punishing them may be just, but it tears the heart apart.

Arjuna's conflict here is between dharma and love. What is right and what he can bring himself to do are no longer the same thing.

This verse has a notable structure: Arjuna asks a question (what joy will we gain?) and then answers it himself (only sin will come). His mind has already reached its conclusion — this war is wrong. He is no longer deliberating; he is pleading.

In tradition, the word 'atatayee' receives special attention. The shastras permit killing an aggressor, but Arjuna overrides even this provision because of the bonds of kinship.