Sanskrit
कथं न ज्ञेयमस्माभिः पापादस्मान्निवर्तितुम् । कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं प्रपश्यद्भिर्जनार्दन ॥
kathaṃ na jñeyam asmābhiḥ pāpād asmān nivartitum kulakṣayakṛtaṃ doṣaṃ prapaśyadbhir janārdana
Translation
Why should not we learn to turn away from such a sin, O Janârdana, who see the evils in the destruction of a family?
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The turn on verse 38’s concession: precisely because the Pândavas do see the wrong the Kauravas are blind to, they have more reason to withdraw, not less. It’s a moral-responsibility argument — greater awareness creates a greater obligation to act on it — that opens directly into the consequences Arjuna spells out starting in verse 40.
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Word by word
- kathaṃ na jñeyamकथं न ज्ञेयं
- how should it not be known
- asmābhiḥअस्माभिः
- by us
- pāpād asmān nivartitumपापाद् अस्मान् निवर्तितुं
- to turn back from this sin
- kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṃ doṣaṃकुल-क्षय-कृतं दोषं
- the wrong caused by destroying a family
- prapaśyadbhirप्रपश्यद्भिः
- by those who clearly see it
- janārdanaजनार्दन
- O Janārdana
Commentary
Site Commentary
Arjuna doesn’t assert this conclusion, he asks it as a rhetorical question — “why should not we…” — a form that assumes the answer is obvious to any listener. That’s the argument performing itself: posing the obligation as self-evident is exactly the kind of clear-sightedness he’s claiming the Kauravas lack.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When you're certain about the right course of action, notice whether you can state it as an obvious question rather than a defensive assertion — 'why wouldn't I do this' is often a sign the reasoning has actually settled, not just been argued.
Professional
- When advocating for an ethical stance at work, framing it as an obvious question — 'why would we not do this' — can carry more weight than a defensive justification, because it assumes the shared standard rather than arguing for it from scratch.
Family & Social
- When you know the right thing to do for family even though it's hard, you can say so as a simple, obvious question rather than over-explaining — sometimes stating it plainly is more persuasive than justifying it at length.
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