Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 1, Verse 34
आचार्याः पितरः पुत्रास्तथैव च पितामहाः।
मातुलाः श्चशुराः पौत्राः श्यालाः सम्बन्धिनस्तथा।।
मातुलाः श्चशुराः पौत्राः श्यालाः सम्बन्धिनस्तथा।।
ācāryāḥ pitaraḥ putrās tathaiva ca pitāmahāḥ
mātulāḥ śvaśurāḥ pautrāḥ śyālāḥ sambandhinas tathā
also searched as "acharyah pitarah putras tathaiva cha pitamahah"
Translation
all these are to be regarded as one's own self.
Teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other kinsmen—all these are to be regarded as one's own self.
Vāṇi's rendering
Teachers and fathers, sons and grandfathers, uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law — my own kin.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आचार्याःācāryāḥ | teachers |
| पितरःpitaraḥ | fathers |
| पुत्राःputrāḥ | sons (joined to the next word by sandhi: putrās tathā) |
| तथाtathā | so too |
| एवeva | indeed, just so |
| चca | and |
| पितामहाःpitāmahāḥ | grandfathers |
| मातुलाःmātulāḥ | mother's brothers, maternal uncles |
| श्वशुराःśvaśurāḥ | fathers-in-law |
| पौत्राःpautrāḥ | grandsons |
| श्यालाःśyālāḥ | brothers-in-law, wives' brothers |
| सम्बन्धिनःsambandhinaḥ | kinsmen, those bound by relation (joined to the next word by sandhi: sambandhinas tathā) |
| तथाtathā | as well |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 Verse 34 mean?
It is Arjuna's roll-call of the men facing him — ācāryāḥ, pitaraḥ, putrāḥ, and the rest. He is not describing an army. He is describing a family, and every name he speaks is a debt he owes or is owed. The verse is the sound of an enemy dissolving back into kin.
What does the line acharyah pitarah putras tathaiva cha pitamahah mean?
Teachers, fathers, sons, and grandfathers too. Arjuna names the four generations standing in front of him, then widens the circle to uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law. The Sanskrit simply lists. That is its force — no argument, no plea, only relation after relation until the fight becomes unthinkable to him.
Why does Arjuna list all these relatives instead of just saying my family?
Because a general word would let him keep his distance. Each specific role — the one who taught him, the one who married his sister — carries its own weight of duty. He is stacking those weights one by one until his bow slips. Naming is how grief becomes exact.
Is this verse about compassion or about weakness?
Both are present, and the Gītā does not yet separate them. Arjuna's seeing is true — these are his people. What is not yet true is the conclusion he draws from it. Krishna will honour the sight and refuse the conclusion. Feeling rightly and acting rightly are not the same act.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Count them with him. Not 'the enemy,' not 'the Kaurava host' — teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, uncles, the men who gave him their daughters. Arjuna is doing something dangerous: he is naming. An army is easy to raise a bow against; a list of names is not. Every role he recites is a relation of obligation — those he owes, those who owe him. He is not seeing soldiers. He is seeing the web he is held in, and every strand runs through his own hands. You do this too, before the hard thing you must do. You say the names, and your arm goes slack.