Sanskrit
एतान्न हन्तुमिच्छामि घ्नतोऽपि मधुसूदन । अपि त्रैलोक्यराज्यस्य हेतोः किं नु महीकृते ॥
etān na hantum icchāmi ghnato'pi madhusūdana api trailokyarājyasya hetoḥ kiṃ nu mahīkṛte
Translation
These I do not wish to kill, though myself slain, O Madhusûdana, even for the sake of the kingship of the three worlds; how then for earth?
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Arjuna pushes the argument to its most extreme form: he wouldn’t kill these relatives even to save his own life, even for rule over all three worlds — so certainly not for a mere kingdom on earth. It’s a rhetorical ceiling, establishing that no stakes, however high, could justify this for him.
Study deeper
Word by word
- etānएतान्
- these
- na hantum icchāmiन हन्तुं इच्छामि
- I do not wish to kill
- ghnato'piघ्नतोऽपि
- even if they kill me
- madhusūdanaमधुसूदन
- O slayer of Madhu
- api trailokya-rājyasya hetoḥअपि त्रैलोक्य-राज्यस्य हेतोः
- even for the sake of sovereignty over the three worlds
- kiṃ nu mahīkṛteकिं नु महीकृते
- how much less for the earth
Commentary
Site Commentary
This is a fortiori reasoning in its classic form — if not even for the greater stake, then certainly not for the lesser one — and the form does specific work: it isn’t just intense, it’s structured to be unanswerable. No offer smaller than “three worlds” could possibly move him, which means no realistic offer could either.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you want to signal that a boundary is truly non-negotiable, state the extreme case you'd still refuse — 'not even for X' — rather than just saying no; it closes off the temptation to bargain, for you as much as for anyone else.
Professional
- If you need a decision to be understood as final rather than open to a bigger counteroffer, say explicitly what even the best possible counteroffer wouldn't change — it removes the ambiguity that invites more negotiation.
Family & Social
- When setting a hard limit with family, naming what even the most extreme version of the ask wouldn't change can be clearer than a plain refusal — it signals there's no bigger offer left to try.
Ask yourself
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