Shankaracharya's commentary, trans. Alladi Mahadeva Sastry (1897)
[1]Arjuna said: If Thou considerest that knowledge is superior to action, O Janardana, why dost Thou urge me to do this terrible action, O Keshava?
BG 3.1
अर्जुन उवाच । ज्यायसी चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन । तत्किं कर्मणि घोरे मां नियोजयसि केशव ॥
arjuna uvāca | jyāyasī cet karmaṇas te matā buddhir janārdana | tat kiṃ karmaṇi ghore māṃ niyojayasi keśava ||
"Arjuna's honest confusion: if wisdom is better than action, why push me into this terrible fight?"
All public-domain translations
5 translations · all pre-1928 or released to public domain · sources
Swami Swarupananda, Srimad Bhagavad Gita (1909)
[4]Arjuna said: If Thou thinkest that knowledge is superior to action, O Janardana, why then dost Thou engage me in this terrible action, O Keshava?
William Quan Judge, The Bhagavad Gita (1890)
[6]Arjuna said: If Thou deemest that the use of the understanding is superior to the practice of deeds, O Janardana, why then dost Thou urge me to this fearful deed, O Keshava?
Sir Edwin Arnold, The Song Celestial (1885)
[7]Arjuna: If meditation is, as say'st thou, higher Than deeds, why dost thou urge to deeds of blood? Thy speech is mixed and makes my reason reel.
K.T. Telang, Sacred Books of the East Vol. 8 (1882)
[9]Arjuna said: If, O Janardana, knowledge is superior to action in Thy opinion, why dost Thou urge me to this fearful action, O Keshava?