अर्जुन उवाच कथं भीष्ममहं संख्ये द्रोणं च मधुसूदन। इषुभिः प्रतियोत्स्यामि पूजार्हावरिसूदन॥
arjuna uvāca / kathaṃ bhīṣmam ahaṃ saṃkhye droṇaṃ ca madhusūdana / iṣubhiḥ pratiyotsyāmi pūjārhāv arisūdana
How do you raise a weapon against the teacher who made you?
Word by word (5)
- katham bhīṣmam aham
- — how can I against Bhishma, how can I attack...
- droṇam ca madhusūdana
- — ...and Drona, O Madhusudana · Two specific names — not 'enemies' but two specific people: Bhishma, Arjuna's great-uncle and one of the greatest warriors alive; Drona, Arjuna's teacher who taught him everything he knows about warfare. The specificity matters.
- iṣubhiḥ pratiyotsyāmi
- — fight with arrows against / attack with arrows
- pūjārhāu
- — worthy of worship / deserving of reverence · 'Pūjārhau' — dual form: 'these two who deserve to be worshipped.' Arjuna's duty to honor his teacher and elder is a real dharmic obligation, not just sentiment.
- arisūdana
- — O Arisudana — slayer of enemies (addressing Krishna)
Arjuna said: 'O Madhusudana — how can I fight against Bhishma and Drona in battle, O slayer of enemies? They are worthy of worship. How can I shoot arrows at them?'
A modern analogy
A student asked to argue against their mentor in a court case. A doctor asked to treat a patient who is their parent. Bhishma is Arjuna's great-uncle — a man of extraordinary honor. Drona gave Arjuna every skill he has as a warrior. The argument is specific: these two people have a claim on Arjuna's reverence that feels incompatible with facing them as opponents.
Take with you
- Arjuna names the specific people (Bhishma, Drona) — the conflict is not abstract but deeply personal.
- 'Pūjārhāu' — worthy of worship. Arjuna's reverence for his teacher is a dharmic obligation, not mere sentiment.
- Krishna challenged him to rise (V3). Arjuna responds not with submission but with a specific counter-question. The dialogue is genuine.
Arjuna's response to Krishna's rebuke (V2-3) is not submission but counter-argument: 'You say rise and fight. Here are the two people I would be raising my bow against. Tell me how.' The specific naming of Bhishma and Drona is important. These are not random opponents. Drona is Arjuna's guru — the teacher to whom Arjuna owes the very skills that would be used against him. The guru-śiṣya bond is, in the Indian tradition, among the most sacred. Bhishma is the patriarch of the entire family, a figure of almost mythic virtue. To oppose either of them violates deep dharmic obligations. Arjuna is making the point that 'rise and fight' is easier to say than do when the people on the other side are these two specific people.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Arjuna said: O Madhusudana, how shall I fight with arrows against Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of worship, O destroyer of enemies? [4]
Arjuna: How shall I in the battle shoot with shafts On Bhishma, or on Drona — O thou Chief — Both worshipful, both honorable men? [7]
Arjuna said: O Madhusudana, how shall I fight with arrows in battle against Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of reverence, O destroyer of enemies? [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The people who shaped him — teachers, father-figures, sons — are on the field, ready to die.
Approach the teacher with prostration, inquiry, and service. The knowers of truth will instruct you in jñāna.
Krishna says: 'Look.' Two words that will change everything.
He looked — and saw everyone he has ever loved, lined up to kill or be killed.
Even the fathers-in-law and dearest friends — on both sides. No one is safely 'other.'
I would rather be killed than kill them — a statement of love that goes beyond self-preservation.