Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 8
न हि प्रपश्यामि ममापनुद्या
द्यच्छोकमुच्छोषणमिन्द्रियाणाम्।
अवाप्य भूमावसपत्नमृद्धम्
राज्यं सुराणामपि चाधिपत्यम्।।
द्यच्छोकमुच्छोषणमिन्द्रियाणाम्।
अवाप्य भूमावसपत्नमृद्धम्
राज्यं सुराणामपि चाधिपत्यम्।।
na hi prapaśyāmi mamāpanudyād
yac-cchokam ucchoṣaṇam-indriyāṇām
avāpya bhūmāv-asapatnamṛddhaṁ
rājyaṁ surāṇāmapi cādhipatyam
also searched as "na hi prapashyami mamapanudyad"
Translation
Even if I were to win unchallenged sovereignty of a prosperous earth or even lordship over the Devas, I do not feel that it would dispel the grief that withers up my senses.
Vāṇi's rendering
This grief is drying me from within. No kingdom on earth, no throne among gods, could take it away.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नna | not |
| हिhi | indeed, for |
| प्रपश्यामिprapaśyāmi | I see, I can foresee |
| ममmama | my, for me (sandhi: mama + apanudyāt) |
| अपनुद्यात्apanudyāt | would drive away, could remove |
| यत्yat | that which (sandhi: yat + śokam) |
| शोकम्śokam | grief, sorrow |
| उच्छोषणम्ucchoṣaṇam | drying up, parching |
| इन्द्रियाणाम्indriyāṇām | of the senses |
| अवाप्यavāpya | having obtained, even after winning |
| भूमौbhūmau | on the earth (sandhi: bhūmau + asapatnam) |
| असपत्नम्asapatnam | without a rival, unchallenged |
| ऋद्धम्ṛddham | prosperous, flourishing |
| राज्यम्rājyam | kingdom, sovereignty |
| सुराणाम्surāṇām | of the gods |
| अपिapi | even |
| चca | and (sandhi: ca + ādhipatyam) |
| आधिपत्यम्ādhipatyam | lordship, overlordship |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 8 mean?
Arjuna admits that no victory would cure him. Unrivalled rule over the earth, even lordship among the gods — he has weighed these and found them powerless against his sorrow. It is not a request for comfort. It is the honest report of a man who has run out of outcomes worth wanting.
What is the meaning of na hi prapashyami mamapanudyad?
Literally, I do not see what would drive away my grief. Prapaśyāmi is the verb of a man scanning the horizon and finding nothing there. Arjuna is not refusing help; he is saying he cannot picture the shape help would take. That blankness is exactly where Krishna begins.
Why does Arjuna say grief dries up his senses?
Ucchoṣaṇam means parching. Deep grief does not only wound — it withdraws. Food loses taste, work loses point, the world goes flat. Arjuna names this precisely because a man in that state cannot simply be cheered up. Something drier than sorrow has to be met with something deeper than consolation.
How does this verse apply when nothing I want seems to help?
You have arrived where Arjuna arrives. Every fix you can name has already been tested in your imagination and failed. The Gītā does not scold you for that. It treats it as the moment teaching becomes possible — because now you are listening for something other than a better outcome.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna has just called himself Krishna's student. Then, before any teaching begins, he says why he cannot be taught: nothing on offer would help. Not the earth with no rival left on it. Not a throne among the gods. He is not exaggerating. Grief audits every future you can imagine and finds each one useless. Notice the word ucchoṣaṇam — drying. Sorrow does not merely hurt; it pulls the moisture out of the senses until nothing tastes of anything. When you have reached the end of what winning could fix, you are standing exactly where Arjuna stands. The teaching starts here.