1.31
निमित्तानि च पश्यामि विपरीतानि केशव ।
न च श्रेयोऽनुपश्यामि हत्वा स्वजनमाहवे ॥
nimittāni ca paśyāmi viparītāni keśava
na ca śreyo 'nupaśyāmi hatvā svajanam āhave
The first moral sentence. Up to now it was the body.
The verse
And I see adverse omens, Keśava (केशव). I see no good to come from killing my own people in battle.
नेपालीमा
र हे केशव, म प्रतिकूल शकुन देख्छु। युद्धमा आफ्ना मानिसहरूलाई मारेर आउने कुनै भलो म देख्दिन।
Where it sits
śreyas (श्रेयस्) is the word he will chase for the rest of the chapter, and the word Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) will take away from him in chapter 2. Arjuna means "I see no good result." He has already decided the killing is the thing whose result should be inspected. hatvā svajanam (हत्वा स्वजनम्) smuggles the conclusion into the gerund. The question "what should I do" has been replaced by "what good is this killing." That replacement is the whole despair.
Split: निमित्तानि + च + पश्यामि + विपरीतानि + केशव + न + च + श्रेयस् + अनुपश्यामि + हत्वा + स्वजनम् + आहवे
nimittāni + ca + paśyāmi + viparītāni + keśava + na + ca + śreyas + anupaśyāmi + hatvā + svajanam + āhave
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| निमित्तानि | nimittāni | accusative plural, neuter | omens, signs. |
| पश्यामि | paśyāmi | present, 1st singular | I see. |
| विपरीतानि | viparītāni | accusative plural, neuter | contrary, adverse, turned the wrong way. |
| केशव | keśava | vocative | Keśava (केशव). Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण), slayer of the demon Keśin (केशिन्), or "of fine hair." |
| श्रेयस् | śreyas | nominative, neuter | the better thing, the good, welfare. |
| अनुपश्यामि | anupaśyāmi | present, 1st singular | I see, following on, I foresee. |
| हत्वा | hatvā | gerund | having killed. |
| स्वजनम् | svajanam | accusative | my own people. |
| आहवे | āhave | locative | in battle. |
The phrases
nimittāni ca paśyāmi viparītāni (निमित्तानि च पश्यामि विपरीतानि) is the omens. And I see signs that have turned against us. viparītāni (विपरीतानि) agrees with nimittāni (निमित्तानि).
keśava (केशव) is the vocative, mid-sentence again.
न च श्रेयस् अनुपश्यामि na ca śreyas anupaśyāmi is the refusal of the outcome. And I do not see a good to come. श्रेयस् + अ śreyas + a becomes śreyo ' (श्रेयो ऽ): aḥ (अः)-type sandhi of a final --as (अस्) before a (अ). You hear śreyo 'nupaśyāmi (श्रेयो ऽनुपश्यामि).
हत्वा स्वजनम् आहवे hatvā svajanam āhave says in what act he fails to see the good. Having killed my own people in battle. The gerund states the act as the path he is looking down.
Sanskrit in this line
Final --as (अस्) before a (अ) becomes o (ओ), and the a (अ) drops. श्रेयस् अनुपश्यामि śreyas anupaśyāmi is śreyo 'nupaśyāmi (श्रेयो ऽनुपश्यामि). Same pattern as tumulaḥ abhavat (तुमुलः अभवत्) in 1.13, because --as (अस्) and --aḥ (अः) are the same ending in two spellings. śreyas (श्रेयस्) is a neuter noun whose nominative happens to end in --as (अस्). You split at the avagraha.
hatvā (हत्वा) is the gerund of han (हन्), "kill." "Having killed" can mean "if I kill" or "by killing" in English. The Sanskrit is not a conditional. It presents the act as already the frame. That is why it feels like a decision even though he is still talking.
Say it back
What he sees, and what he does not see. Keep śreyas (श्रेयस्) untranslated once, then give it an English word and notice what you added.