Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 1, Verse 45
अहो बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम्।
यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यताः।।
यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यताः।।
aho bata mahat pāpaṁ kartuṁ vyavasitā vayam
yad rājya-sukha-lobhena hantuṁ sva-janam udyatāḥ
also searched as "aho bata mahat papam kartum vyavasita vayam"
Translation
Alas! We have resolved to commit a great sin, for we are ready to slay our kin out of desire for sovereignty and enjoyment.
Vāṇi's rendering
What a great sin we stood ready to commit — killing our own people for the pleasure of a throne.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अहोaho | alas — a cry of dismay |
| बतbata | how sad; what a thing to say |
| महत्mahat | great, enormous |
| पापम्pāpaṁ | sin, wrongdoing |
| कर्तुम्kartuṁ | to do, to commit |
| व्यवसिताःvyavasitā | resolved, set upon, having made up our minds |
| वयम्vayam | we |
| यत्yad | in that, seeing that |
| राज्य-सुख-लोभेनrājya-sukha-lobhena | out of greed for the pleasures of a kingdom |
| हन्तुम्hantuṁ | to kill |
| स्वजनम्sva-janam | our own people, our kin |
| उद्यताःudyatāḥ | poised, standing ready (sandhi joins svajanam and udyatāḥ) |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 Verse 45 mean?
Arjuna admits that he and his side are about to commit a great wrong — killing their own kinsmen for the comfort of a crown. What matters is the word vayam, we. He does not blame the enemy. He places himself inside the accusation, which is the first honest thing said on that field.
What does aho bata mahat papam kartum vyavasita vayam mean?
Alas — we stood resolved to commit an enormous sin. Vyavasitā means the mind was already made up; the deed was decided before the doubt arrived. Arjuna is not discovering a temptation. He is catching a settled intention in himself and saying it out loud.
Why is Arjuna blaming himself and not the Kauravas?
Because he has stopped seeing two sides. Dhṛtarāṣṭra opened the Gītā splitting the field into my sons and Pandu's. Arjuna, seeing his teachers and cousins arrayed before him, cannot hold that split any longer. Once the other side is your own people, every accusation you make lands on you too.
Is Arjuna right that fighting would be a sin?
He is right to look, and wrong in what he concludes. Krishna will spend the next chapters showing that the sin is not in the act but in the greed Arjuna names — rājya-sukha-lobha. Remove the craving for the throne, and the same deed becomes duty. Arjuna sees clearly and reasons hastily.
Themes in this verse
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Commentary
Arjuna says we. Not they, not Duryodhana — we. Standing between the armies, he looks at his own hands and names the thing they were raised to do, and he does not soften the word. Sin. For a throne. Notice what has happened to the language since the first verse, where a blind king said my sons and Pandu's. Arjuna has stopped dividing. He has turned the accusation inward, and that turning takes more nerve than the fight would. Whether his conclusion is right, Krishna will answer. The honesty is not in question. Name your own intent before you name anyone else's.