📿 Shloka Collection

Katham Bhishmam Aham

Gita 2.4 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 — Sankhya Yoga
कथं भीष्ममहं सङ्ख्ये द्रोणं च मधुसूदन ।
इषुभिः प्रतियोत्स्यामि पूजार्हावरिसूदन ॥
Katham Bhishmam aham sankhye Dronam cha Madhusudana
Ishubhih pratiyotsyami pujarhav Arisudana
कथम्
how
भीष्मम्
Bhishma
अहम्
I
सङ्ख्ये
in battle
द्रोणम्
Drona
इषुभिः
with arrows
प्रतियोत्स्यामि
shall I fight against
पूजार्हौ
worthy of worship
अरिसूदन
O destroyer of enemies (Krishna)

Arjuna puts his dilemma into words. How, he asks, can I fight against Bhishma and Drona in battle? How can I shoot arrows at men who deserve my reverence? Bhishma is his grandfather — the patriarch who raised the Kuru princes. Drona is his teacher — the man who placed the bow in his hands. The very arrows Arjuna would fire were, in a sense, gifts from Drona himself.

The word 'pujarhau' — worthy of worship — captures Arjuna's inner conflict. These are not enemies in his heart. They are elders he has bowed before since childhood. The idea of attacking them feels like a violation of something sacred, not a battlefield strategy.

Arjuna addresses Krishna by two names here: Madhusudana (slayer of the demon Madhu) and Arisudana (destroyer of enemies). Even as Arjuna speaks of his inability to fight, the names he chooses for Krishna carry the flavour of victory and strength — as if, somewhere beneath his grief, he knows the answer lies with Krishna.

According to the Bhagavad Gita, this is the central question behind Arjuna's crisis. Both Bhishma and Drona, though fighting on the Kaurava side, are deeply respected by Arjuna. The conflict is not strategic but moral.

The guru-shishya (teacher-student) relationship holds immense weight in Indian tradition. Arjuna's anguish at the thought of attacking his own guru is rooted in a cultural reverence that runs deeper than battlefield loyalty.

Chapter 2 · 4 / 72
Chapter 2 · 4 / 72 Next →