1.36
निहत्य धार्तराष्ट्रान्नः का प्रीतिः स्याज्जनार्दन ।
पापमेवाश्रयेदस्मान्हत्वैतानाततायिनः ॥
nihatya dhārtarāṣṭrān naḥ kā prītiḥ syāj janārdana
pāpam evāśrayed asmān hatvā etān ātatāyinaḥ
From "no use" to "a sin." The legal word is in the second line.
The verse
What joy would we have, Janārdana (जनार्दन), in killing the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (धृतराष्ट्र)? Sin itself would cling to us if we killed these men, aggressors though they are.
नेपालीमा
हे जनार्दन, धृतराष्ट्रका छोराहरूलाई मारेर हामीलाई के आनन्द हुन्छ। आक्रमणकारी भए पनि यिनीहरूलाई मार्यौं भने पाप नै हामीमा टाँसिन्छ।
Where it sits
ātatāyin (आततायिन्) is a word from the law of force. A man who comes at you with one of the deadly crimes may be killed without the killer incurring the usual guilt. Arjuna knows the word. He puts it on them — armed men who took the kingdom, who shamed the wife, who are standing here to kill — and then says the sin would cling anyway. He is not ignorant of the exception. He is refusing to use it. Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण), when he answers, will not spend his first speech on this legal point either. Remember that the point was raised.
Split: निहत्य + धार्तराष्ट्रान् + नः + का + प्रीतिः + स्यात् + जनार्दन + पापम् + एव + आश्रयेत् + अस्मान् + हत्वा + एतान् + आततायिनः
nihatya + dhārtarāṣṭrān + naḥ + kā + prītiḥ + syāt + janārdana + pāpam + eva + āśrayet + asmān + hatvā + etān + ātatāyinaḥ
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| निहत्य | nihatya | gerund | having struck down. ni-han (नि-हन्). |
| धार्तराष्ट्रान् | dhārtarāṣṭrān | accusative plural | the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (धृतराष्ट्र). |
| का | kā | nominative feminine | what. Agrees with prītiḥ (प्रीतिः). |
| प्रीतिः | prītiḥ | nominative | joy, pleasure, satisfaction. |
| स्यात् | syāt | optative, 3rd singular | it would be. |
| जनार्दन | janārdana | vocative | Janārdana (जनार्दन). Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण), stirrer of men, or the one men pray to. |
| पापम् | pāpam | nominative | sin, evil. |
| आश्रयेत् | āśrayet | optative, 3rd singular | it would cling to, it would come to rest on. |
| अस्मान् | asmān | accusative | us. |
| एतान् | etān | accusative | these. |
| आततायिनः | ātatāyinaḥ | accusative plural | aggressors. Men guilty of a killing crime: arson, poisoning, abduction, armed attack. |
The phrases
nihatya dhārtarāṣṭrān naḥ kā prītiḥ syāt (निहत्य धार्तराष्ट्रान् नः का प्रीतिः स्यात्) is the question. Having slain the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (धृतराष्ट्र), what joy would we have. naḥ (नः) is "for us." syāt (स्यात्) is not "is." It is "would be."
janārdana (जनार्दन) in the middle.
पापम् एव आश्रयेत् अस्मान् pāpam eva āśrayet asmān is the consequence he expects instead of joy. Sin itself would take hold of us. eva (एव) pins it: sin, and not some other result. आ + आ ā + ā joins eva (एव) and āśrayet (आश्रयेत्) into evāśrayet (एवाश्रयेत्). t (त्) before j (ज्) in syāt janārdana (स्यात् जनार्दन) becomes j (ज्): syāj janārdana (स्याज् जनार्दन).
हत्वा एतान् आततायिनः hatvā etān ātatāyinaḥ grants a status and kills them under that status anyway. Having killed these men, aggressors though they are. etān (एतान्) and ātatāyinaḥ (आततायिनः) are the same object. अस्मान् + हत्वा asmān + hatvā is recited asmānhatvā (अस्मान्हत्वा).
Sanskrit in this line
The optative is the mood of "would, should, might." syāt (स्यात्) is "it would be." āśrayet (आश्रयेत्) is "it would cling." Neither event is reported as a fact. Both are what he sees if the killing happens. You form it, for this kind of verb, with --et (एत्) in the third person singular. syāt (स्यात्) is irregular and worth memorizing on its own, because the Gītā (गीता) uses it whenever a result is being imagined.
ātatāyinaḥ (आततायिनः) as accusative plural of a stem in --in (इन्) looks like a nominative. The form ātatāyinaḥ (आततायिनः) does both jobs. Here it sits next to etān (एतान्), which is accusative, and it specifies those men. Context, not the ending alone, tells you it is the object.
Say it back
What joy, what would cling instead, and the legal name he gives them while still refusing.