Bhagavad Gita 1.44
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 44 of 47 · Arjuna's Journey
अहो बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम्। यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यताः॥
aho bata mahat pāpaṃ kartuṃ vyavasitā vayam / yad rājya-sukha-lobhena hantuṃ svajanam udyatāḥ
'Alas' — the word before the argument ends and the grief takes over completely.
Word by word (5)
- aho bata
- — alas! / how terrible! — an exclamation of grief and horror · 'Aho bata' — one of the most emotionally raw expressions in Sanskrit. Both words signal distress. Arjuna is not reasoning here; he is lamenting.
- mahat pāpam
- — great sin / terrible evil
- kartum vyavasitāḥ vayam
- — we are resolved to commit / we have set ourselves to do
- rājya-sukha-lobhena
- — out of greed for the pleasure of kingdom
- hantum svajanam udyatāḥ
- — standing ready to slay our own people
'Alas! How terrible! We are resolved to commit a great sin — standing here ready to kill our own people, driven by greed for the pleasures of a kingdom.'
A modern analogy
The moment in any serious moral crisis when the intellectual arguments give way to raw grief — not 'I have argued my case' but 'what, in truth, are we about to do?' Arjuna's 'aho bata' is the sound of that moment.
Take with you
- 'Aho bata' (alas) — the intellectual case is over; the emotion has returned in full force.
- Arjuna now describes the battle as driven by 'rājya-sukha-lobha' — greed for royal pleasure. He has turned the very diagnosis of greed he had applied to the Kauravas — that greed blinds the other side while he can still see — against his own side.
- Self-examination that applies the same standards to oneself as to opponents is a mark of genuine moral integrity.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Alas! we are engaged in committing a great sin, in that we are prepared to slay our kinsmen through greed for the pleasure of a kingdom. [4]
Alas! We have resolved to commit a great sin in that, urged by the desire to obtain royal pleasures, we stand ready to kill our own kinsmen. [6]
O day of shame! when we were set to die For kingdom's sake, here stands a king and kills His kindred! [7]
Alas! we are engaged in a great sin, as we have resolved to kill our own kinsmen through greed for the pleasures of a kingdom. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Greed blinds the other side — but we can still see. That sight is both burden and responsibility.
Sanjaya describes what the blind king cannot see: Arjuna weeping, overwhelmed with compassion.
Three gates to hell, destructive of the self: kāma, krodha, lobha. Therefore abandon this triad.
Tāmasic karma: begun from delusion, ignoring consequences, waste, injury to beings, and one's own capacity.
Arjuna sees his own people ready to die — and his body breaks before his mind can argue.
Bow down, arrows scattered, warrior collapsed — this is where the Gita begins.
Verse 44 of 47 · back to Chapter 1