Chapter 2 Verse - 4

 

Verse – 4

अर्जुन उवाच |

कथं भीष्ममहं सङ्ख्ये द्रोणं च मधुसूदन |

इषुभि: प्रतियोत्स्यामि पूजार्हावरिसूदन || 4||

Transliteration:

Arjuna uvAca

Katham bhIShmamaham sankhye dronam ca madhusUdana.

iShubhiH pratiyotsyAmi pUjArhAvarisUdana..4..

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Word-by-word Meaning:

अर्जुन उवाच – Arjuna Said;

कथं – how; भीष्मम् – Bhishma; अहं – I; सङ्ख्ये – in the war-field; द्रोणं – Drona; च – and; मधुसूदन – MadhusUdana; इषुभि: - with arrows; प्रतियोत्स्यामि – (I will)fight against; पूजार्हौ – (both of them who are) worthy to be worshipped; अरि सूदन​ – slayer of enemies;

Meaning:

Arjuna said,

O Madhusudana, how can I fight against Bhishma and Drona with my arrows, who are worthy to be worshipped. O Destroyer of enemies.

Significance:

                    Arjuna again puts forth his point by calling Krishna as ‘Ari-sUdana’. ArisUdana means destroyer of enemies, he indicates that it is easy to fight against an enemy which Lord did, but he now must stand against his own people, which is very difficult. That too against Bhishma – who is his own great-grandfather, and Drona- who has imparted him with abundance of knowledge.  He wanted to convey that he did not want to engage in the war, not because of cowardness, but he feels it is improper to fight against his elders.

                    Arjuna thinks his problem is caused by Duryodhana and his people, i.e, he thinks there is an external cause for his problem. But Krishna knows the root cause of the problem is his mental weakness, which is within him. This is the situation where most of us would be, most of our problems are internal. When we look within ourselves, strengthen our mind, make ourselves powerful with positive thinking, the external factors will not affect us.