Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 4
अर्जुन उवाच
कथं भीष्ममहं संख्ये द्रोणं च मधुसूदन।
इषुभिः प्रतियोत्स्यामि पूजार्हावरिसूदन।।
कथं भीष्ममहं संख्ये द्रोणं च मधुसूदन।
इषुभिः प्रतियोत्स्यामि पूजार्हावरिसूदन।।
arjuna uvāca
kathaṁ bhīṣmam ahaṁ sankhye droṇaṁ ca madhusūdana
iṣubhiḥ pratiyotsyāmi pūjārhāvari-sūdana
also searched as "katham bhishmam aham sankhye dronam cha madhusudana"
Translation
Arjuna said, "O slayer of foes, how can I aim arrows in battle against Bhisma and Drona, who are worthy of reverence?"
Vāṇi's rendering
How can I turn arrows on Bhishma and Drona — men I should be worshipping?
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अर्जुनःarjunaḥ | Arjuna |
| उवाचuvāca | said |
| कथम्kathaṁ | how |
| भीष्मम्bhīṣmam | Bhishma (as the one struck at) |
| अहम्ahaṁ | I |
| संख्येsankhye | in the fighting, on the field |
| द्रोणम्droṇaṁ | Drona |
| चca | and |
| मधुसूदनmadhusūdana | O Madhusūdana, slayer of the demon Madhu — Krishna |
| इषुभिःiṣubhiḥ | with arrows |
| प्रतियोत्स्यामिpratiyotsyāmi | shall I fight back, strike in return |
| पूजार्हौpūjā-arhau | the two who deserve worship (sandhi: pūjārhāv- before ari-) |
| अरिसूदनari-sūdana | O destroyer of enemies — Krishna |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 4 mean?
Arjuna names the two men he cannot raise a weapon against — Bhishma, his grandsire, and Drona, his teacher. His argument is not that war is wrong but that these two are pūjārha, worthy of worship. Reverence and duty have arrived pointing in opposite directions, and he cannot move.
What does katham bhishmam aham sankhye mean in the Gita?
"How can I, in the fighting, against Bhishma..." — the line breaks before it finishes, and the verb comes late: pratiyotsyāmi, shall I fight back. Arjuna is not asking permission. He is describing a physical impossibility, the way you might say your hand will not close around a thing.
Why does Arjuna call Krishna Madhusudana and Arisudana here?
Both names mean slayer — of the demon Madhu, of enemies. Arjuna is pressing the point with the address itself: you kill foes, Krishna, and these are not foes. They are elders. He is trying to make Krishna feel the difference he feels. Krishna will answer, but not on those terms.
How do I act when duty conflicts with love and respect?
The Gītā does not dissolve the conflict; it lets Arjuna state it fully first. That matters. Do not rush past the ache into a decision. Say plainly what you owe and to whom, as Arjuna does. Clarity about the weight comes before any teaching about how to carry it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna's objection is not cowardice, and Krishna never treats it as such. It is love arguing in the grammar of duty. Bhishma held him as a child; Drona put the first bow in his hands. The hands that must draw the string are the hands that were trained by the target. Notice the word he chooses — pratiyotsyāmi, fight back — as though even here he needs them to have struck first. He does not ask whether the war is just. He asks how a body can be made to do what reverence forbids. You have felt this: the duty that arrives wearing the face of someone you love.