Bhagavad Gita 1.37
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 37 of 47 · Arjuna's Journey
यद्यप्येते न पश्यन्ति लोभोपहतचेतसः। कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं मित्रद्रोहे च पातकम्॥
yady apy ete na paśyanti lobhopahata-cetasaḥ / kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṃ doṣaṃ mitra-drohe ca pātakam
Greed blinds the other side — but we can still see. That sight is both burden and responsibility.
Word by word (5)
- yadi api ete
- — even though they
- na paśyanti
- — do not see / are unable to see
- lobha-upahata-cetasaḥ
- — whose minds are overcome by greed · 'Lobha' — greed, covetousness. Arjuna identifies greed as the specific faculty-destroyer in Duryodhana's camp. He is not blind from ignorance but from lobha — a morally culpable state.
- kula-kṣaya-kṛtam doṣam
- — the evil arising from the destruction of the family
- mitra-drohe ca pātakam
- — and the sin of treachery toward friends
Though these men, their minds overcome by greed, see no evil in the destruction of a family and no sin in betraying friends —
A modern analogy
When someone in your team or family is making a destructive decision because they're blinded by desire for a particular outcome, the fact that they can't see it does not excuse you from seeing it. Moral clarity, once present, is a responsibility. Arjuna knows this.
Take with you
- Greed (lobha) specifically named as the faculty-destroyer — not stupidity, not ignorance, but moral choice corrupting perception.
- The ability to see moral consequences that others cannot creates responsibility, not just advantage.
- Arjuna maintains moral clarity about the Kauravas while grieving — he knows they are wrong without hatred.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Even if these, with intelligence overpowered by greed, see no evil in the destruction of the family and no sin in treachery to friends... [4]
Though these men, whose hearts are overleapt by greed, perceive not the sin of the destruction of families and the wickedness of treachery to friends... [6]
Even though these — their minds overpowered by greed — see no evil in the destruction of the family and no sin in treachery to friends... [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
We can see this is wrong — why would we do it anyway?
The enemy is desire and anger, born of rajas — all-devouring, all-sinful. Know this as your internal enemy.
I am the strength of the strong, free from craving — and the desire in beings that does not conflict with dharma.
Rājasic dhṛti: holds fast to dharma, kāma, and artha with attachment, desiring the fruit of each.
Three gates to hell, destructive of the self: kāma, krodha, lobha. Therefore abandon this triad.
Sāttvic tyāga: niyata karma done ONLY because 'this must be done,' having abandoned attachment and fruit.
Verse 37 of 47 · back to Chapter 1