Bhagavad Gītā › Chapter 2 › Verse 5
Bhagavad Gītā 2.5: Better to beg
गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके ।
हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् ॥
gurūnahatvā hi mahānubhāvān śreyo bhoktuṃ bhaikṣyamapīha loke
hatvārthakāmāṃstu gurūnihaiva bhuñjīya bhogān rudhirapradigdhān
Recitation: NehalDaveND (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted, original recording
Meaning
Better in this world to live even on alms than to slay these great-souled elders; for by slaying them, though they seek gain, I would enjoy here only pleasures stained with blood. Arjuna now argues from ethics: some victories cost more than they are worth. The verse is the first in the Gītā in the longer triṣṭubh metre.
For children
Arjuna says: “I would rather be poor and ask for food than hurt my teachers. Nothing I won that way could ever make me happy.”
Arjuna goes on from 2.4, explaining why fighting his elders feels wrong to him.
Word by word
गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् — Rather than harm my great and noble teachers
- guru: teacher, elder
- ahatvā: not killing
- mahānubhāva: great-souled, noble
श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके — it is better to live on begged food in this world
- śreyas: better
- bhoktum: to eat, to live on
- bhaikṣya: food got by begging
- iha loke: in this world
हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव — If I harmed my teachers, even for gain
- hatvā: having killed
- arthakāma: wanting gain
- iha eva: here itself
भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् — every joy I had would be stained with wrong
- bhuñjīya: I would enjoy
- bhoga: pleasure, enjoyment
- rudhira: blood
- pradigdha: smeared, stained
Arjuna speaks this verse. The Sanskrit is checked against four editions; meanings and word notes are simple learning aids written for MahaPrabha Gurukul, awaiting review by a Sanskrit teacher.