VerseBhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita 1.36
Arjuna says that even killing aggressors would bring only sin, not joy.
निहत्य धार्तराष्ट्रान्नः का प्रीतिः स्याज्जनार्दन।
पापमेवाश्रयेदस्मान्हत्वैतानाततायिनः॥
nihatya dhārtarāṣṭrān naḥ kā prītiḥ syāj janārdana
pāpam evāśrayed asmān hatvaitān ātatāyinaḥ
Translation
What joy could be ours, Janardana, from killing Dhritarashtra's sons? Sin alone will cling to us if we kill these aggressors.
Hindi
हे जनार्दन, धृतराष्ट्र के पुत्रों को मारकर हमें क्या प्रसन्नता होगी? इन आततायियों को मारने पर तो हमें पाप ही लगेगा।
Commentary
Arjuna admits that the Kauravas are atatayins, aggressors who by the law books may be killed without sin. Yet he feels that even a justified killing of kin would stain him. This tension between rule and conscience carries into 1.37.
