1-10: Arjuna’s further doubts and surrender

BG 2.4

arjuna uvaca

katham bhishmam aham sankhye

dronam ca madhusudana

ishubhih pratiyotsyami

pujarhav ari–sudana

SYNONYMS

arjunah uvaca — Arjuna said; katham — how; bhishmam — Bhishma; aham — I; sankhye — in the fight; dronam — Drona; ca — also; madhu–sudana — O killer of Madhu; ishubhih — with arrows; pratiyotsyami — shall counterattack; puja–arhau — those who are worshipable; ari–sudana — O killer of the enemies.

TRANSLATION

Arjuna said: O killer of enemies, O killer of Madhu, how can I counterattack with arrows in battle men like Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of my worship?

So he said katham bhishmam aham sankhye, how can I fight with Bhisma, dronam ca madhusudana? How can I fight with Drona? Bhisma is my grandfather and Drona is my teacher, ishubhih pratiyotsyami, pujarhav ari–sudana. How can I shoot arrow to them. Instead, I should be respectfully offering flowers to them. And he is drawing and highlighting the word ari–sudana.

First, he has used the word Madhu-Sudhana (to refer to Krsna) the killer of Madhu demon. But now he is saying Ari-Sudhana-the killer of demons; not relatives or Guru. Arjuna, indirectly questioning, “would you shoot arrow on Maharaj Ugrasen, or you would shoot arrow at Sandipini Muni? You will not do that. You are killer of only enemies, and example of that is you kill Madhu.” So how can you ask me to kill my elders.

Srila Prabhupada has written that one should not even verbally counters his elders, what to speak of physically attacking them. So Arjuna is saying, “how can I do that katham bhishmam?”

So, here both of them are talking in rhetorical language. Krishna is asking, kutas tva kasmalam idam, where from such impurities has come? It doesn’t mean the questions have come from north, east, west, south that is not the point, they are not expected to be there in rhetorical question.

Rhetoric question implies, where answer is implied in the question itself. For e.g. what is the use of crying, when things has already gone wrong. It denotes there is no use of crying.

Krishna rhetoric question, kutas tva kasmalam idam, (indicates) “from where the impurities of attachement have emerged, it should not have surfaced.” Arjuna’s rhetoric question, katham bhishmam aham sankhye, “how can I fight with my elders.” It implies, Arjuna cannot face off with his elders .

So rhetorical questions are used to emphatically drive home a point. So in tennis phrase, it is a verbal duce.