Chapter 1, Verse 38
यद्यप्येते न पश्यन्ति लोभोपहतचेतसः। कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं मित्रद्रोहे च पातकम्।।
yady apy ete na paśyanti lobhopahata-cetasaḥ kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṁ doṣaṁ mitra-drohe ca pātakam
Meaning
Even though these men, whose minds are blinded by greed, see no wrong in the destruction of a family or the betrayal of friends —
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Arjuna now explicitly diagnoses the Kaurava camp's moral blindness: their minds are 'lobhopahata' — struck and overwhelmed by greed. Lobha (greed) is one of the six enemies of the mind in Vedic psychology, and its effect is precisely this: it blinds a person to the harm they are causing. They cannot see the family destruction they are precipitating because desire has occluded their perception.
This is a crucial distinction Arjuna is making: the wrongdoers cannot see the wrong. This is not the same as being incorrigibly evil; it is being blinded by passion. The blind king Dhritarashtra — a metaphor for the mind ruled by attachment — cannot see reality. His son Duryodhana has inherited this spiritual blindness. Greed produces a selective vision that registers only what serves it.
For us, this verse is a call to periodic examination: where in our own lives has desire narrowed our vision? Where might we be causing harm to family, friendship, or community without perceiving it, because what we want has become the only lens through which we see? The capacity for such honest self-scrutiny is itself a spiritual practice.
💡 Key Takeaway
Examine regularly where desire may be narrowing your perception and preventing you from seeing the harm your choices are causing.
Related Verses
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच | धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः | मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ॥१॥
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ | māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya ||1||
Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjaya, after assembling in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukshetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, being desirous to fight?
सञ्जय उवाच दृष्ट्वा तु पाण्डवानीकं व्यूढं दुर्योधनस्तदा। आचार्यमुपसङ्गम्य राजा वचनमब्रवीत्।।
sañjaya uvāca dṛṣṭvā tu pāṇḍavānīkaṁ vyūḍhaṁ duryodhanas tadā ācāryam upasaṅgamya rājā vacanam abravīt
Sanjaya said: Having seen the army of the Pandavas arrayed in battle formation, King Duryodhana then approached his teacher Drona and spoke these words.
पश्यैतां पाण्डुपुत्राणामाचार्य महतीं चमूम्। व्यूढां द्रुपदपुत्रेण तव शिष्येण धीमता।।
paśyaitāṁ pāṇḍu-putrāṇām ācārya mahatīṁ camūm vyūḍhāṁ drupada-putreṇa tava śiṣyeṇa dhīmatā
O teacher, behold this mighty army of the sons of Pandu, so skilfully arrayed by the son of Drupada — your own talented student.