Chapter 2 Vere - 5

Verse 5

गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान्
श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके |
हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव
भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् || 5||

Translitertion

gurUnahatvA hi mahAnubhAvAn

shreyo bhoktum bhaikshyamapIha loke

hatvArthakAmAMstu gurUnihaiva

bhunjIya bhogAn rudhirapradigdhAn..5..

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Word-by-word meaning

गुरून् – Gurus;अहत्वा – by not killing; हि – only;महानुभावान् – great souls; श्रेयो – best ; भोक्तुं – enjoy;भैक्ष्यम् – by begging; अपि – also;इह – in this;लोके- world;  हत्वा – having killed; अर्थ – wealth; कामान् – pleasures; तु – thus; गुरून्- gurus; इह – here; एव​ – itself; भुञ्जीय – bound to enjoy;भोगान् – the happiness; रुधिर- प्रदिग्धान् – stained by blood.

Meaning

It is best to live by begging in this world by not killing the Gurus and ancestors who are great souls;; rather than to enjoy the wealth and pleasures , which would be blood-stained , by the act of killing them ,

Significance

Here in this verse we shall see a change in meter of the verse, the change in meter is to indicate the change in the mindset of Arjuna. Arjuna who was agitated initially now calmed down a bit. He tries to find logical reasons for not fighting!!

हत्वा –अर्थ –कामान् – this word when splitted we get the following meaning -हत्वा – having killed; अर्थ – wealth; कामान् – pleasures; The word also serves as an adjective to the word “ गुरून् “ Those ancestors and Teachers who are consumed by wealth. Bhishma , Drona , Kripa are indebted to the Kingdom in some way or other. Infact Bhishma himself says in Mahabharata that he has to take the side of Kaurava army for the acceptance of wealth.