Arjuna Leaves the Choice to Krishna

Verse 1 (5.77.1)

उक्तं युधिष्ठिरेणैव यावद्वाच्यं जनार्दन । तव वाक्यं तु मे श्रुत्वा प्रतिभाति परन्तप ॥

uktaṃ yudhiṣṭhireṇaiva yāvadvācyaṃ janārdana | tava vākyaṃ tu me śrutvā pratibhāti parantapa

"Yudhishthira himself has said all that needed to be said, Janardana. But hearing your words, O scorcher of foes, it seems to me"

Verse 2 (5.77.2)

नैव प्रशममत्र त्वं मन्यसे सुकरं प्रभो । लोभाद्वा धृतराष्ट्रस्य दैन्याद्वा समुपस्थितात् ॥

naiva praśamamatra tvaṃ manyase sukaraṃ prabho | lobhādvā dhṛtarāṣṭrasya dainyādvā samupasthitāt

"that you do not think peace easy to bring about here, my lord, whether because of Dhritarashtra's greed or because of the weakness that has come upon us."

Verse 3 (5.77.3)

अफलं मन्यसे वाऽपि पुरुषस्य पराक्रमम् । न चान्तरेण कर्माणि पौरुषेण बलोदयः ॥

aphalaṃ manyase vā'pi puruṣasya parākramam | na cāntareṇa karmāṇi pauruṣeṇa balodayaḥ

"Or perhaps you think a man's prowess bears no fruit; and indeed, without deeds, no strength arises from manliness alone."

Verse 4 (5.77.4)

तदिदं भाषितं वाक्यं तथाचन तथैव तत् । न चैतदेवं द्रष्टव्यमसाध्यमपि किंचन ॥

tadidaṃ bhāṣitaṃ vākyaṃ tathācana tathaiva tat | na caitadevaṃ draṣṭavyamasādhyamapi kiṃcana

"What you have said is true in one sense and yet holds in another as well; but it should not be thought that anything at all is beyond accomplishing."

Verse 5 (5.77.5)

किं चैतन्मन्यसे कृच्छ्रमस्माकमवसादकम् । कुर्वन्ति तेषां कर्माणि येषां नास्ति फलोदयः ॥

kiṃ caitanmanyase kṛcchramasmākamavasādakam | kurvanti teṣāṃ karmāṇi yeṣāṃ nāsti phalodayaḥ

"Or do you think our hardship is something that wears us down? Yet men go on doing their work even where no fruit appears."

Verse 6 (5.77.6)

संपाद्यमानं सम्यक्च स्यात्कर्म सफलं प्रभो । स तथा कृष्ण वर्तस्व यथा शर्म भवेत्परैः ॥

saṃpādyamānaṃ samyakca syātkarma saphalaṃ prabho | sa tathā kṛṣṇa vartasva yathā śarma bhavetparaiḥ

"A task carried out properly may well bear fruit, my lord. So act, Krishna, in such a way that there may be peace with our enemies."

Note on the text: Corrected सम्यक्व → सम्यक्च (misprint in Wikisource; critical edition samyak ca).

Verse 7 (5.77.7)

पाण्डवानां कुरूणां च भवान्नः प्रथमः सुहृत् । सुराणामसुराणां च यथा वीर प्रजापतिः ॥

pāṇḍavānāṃ kurūṇāṃ ca bhavānnaḥ prathamaḥ suhṛt | surāṇāmasurāṇāṃ ca yathā vīra prajāpatiḥ

"To the Pandavas and the Kurus you are our foremost friend, O hero, as Prajapati is to the gods and the demons."

Verse 8 (5.77.8)

कुरूणां पाण्डवानां च प्रतिपत्स्व निरामयम् । अस्मद्धितमनुष्ठानं मन्ये तव न दुष्करम् ॥

kurūṇāṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ ca pratipatsva nirāmayam | asmaddhitamanuṣṭhānaṃ manye tava na duṣkaram

"Bring about the well-being of the Kurus and the Pandavas. To do what is for our good is not, I think, a hard thing for you."

Verse 9 (5.77.9)

एवं च कार्यतामेति कार्यं तव जनार्दन । गमनादेवमेव त्वं करिष्यसि न संशयः ॥

evaṃ ca kāryatāmeti kāryaṃ tava janārdana | gamanādevameva tvaṃ kariṣyasi na saṃśayaḥ

"And so your task becomes a fitting one, Janardana; by your going there alone you will accomplish this, without doubt."

Note on the text: Restored from the critical edition (5.76.9d): Wikisource ends the verse 'करिष्यसि जनार्दन', repeating the vocative of the second quarter in place of the closing words; replaced with the critical edition's 'न संशयः'. The rest of the verse keeps Wikisource's reading (एवं च for the critical edition's evaṃ cet).

Verse 10 (5.77.10)

चिकीर्षितमथान्यत्ते तस्मिन्वीर दुरात्मनि । भविष्यति च तत्सर्वं यथा तव चिकीर्षितम् ॥

cikīrṣitamathānyatte tasminvīra durātmani | bhaviṣyati ca tatsarvaṃ yathā tava cikīrṣitam

"Or if you intend something else for that wicked man, O hero, all of it will come to pass just as you intend."

Note on the text: Corrected दुरात्मानि → दुरात्मनि (misprint in Wikisource; locative singular, critical edition durātmani).

Verse 11 (5.77.11)

शर्म तैः सह वा नोऽस्तु तव वा यच्चिकीर्षितम् । विचार्यमाणो यः कामस्तव कृष्ण स नो गुरुः ॥

śarma taiḥ saha vā no'stu tava vā yaccikīrṣitam | vicāryamāṇo yaḥ kāmastava kṛṣṇa sa no guruḥ

"Whether we are to have peace with them, or whatever else you intend, the course you settle on after weighing it, Krishna, will carry weight with us."

Verse 12 (5.77.12)

न स नार्हति दुष्टात्मा वधं ससुतबान्धवः । येन धर्मसुते दृष्टा न सा श्रीरुपमर्षिता ॥

na sa nārhati duṣṭātmā vadhaṃ sasutabāndhavaḥ | yena dharmasute dṛṣṭā na sā śrīrupamarṣitā

"Does that evil-minded man not deserve death, together with his sons and kin — he who could not bear the prosperity he saw in the son of Dharma,"

Verse 13 (5.77.13)

यच्चाप्यपश्यतोपायं धर्मिष्ठं मधुसूदन । उपायेन नृशंसेन हृता दुर्द्यूतदेविना ॥

yaccāpyapaśyatopāyaṃ dharmiṣṭhaṃ madhusūdana | upāyena nṛśaṃsena hṛtā durdyūtadevinā

"and who, seeing no righteous way to it, Madhusudana, seized it by a cruel trick, playing a crooked game of dice?"

Verse 14 (5.77.14)

कथं हि पुरुषो जातः क्षत्रियेषु धनुर्धरः । समाहूतो निवर्तेत प्राणत्यागेऽप्युपस्थिते ॥

kathaṃ hi puruṣo jātaḥ kṣatriyeṣu dhanurdharaḥ | samāhūto nivarteta prāṇatyāge'pyupasthite

"For how could a man born among Kshatriyas, a bearer of the bow, turn back when challenged, even if it meant giving up his life?"

Verse 15 (5.77.15)

अधर्मेण जितान्दृष्ट्वा वने प्रव्रजितांस्तथा । वध्यतां मम वार्ष्णेय निर्गतोऽसौ सुयोधनः ॥

adharmeṇa jitāndṛṣṭvā vane pravrajitāṃstathā | vadhyatāṃ mama vārṣṇeya nirgato'sau suyodhanaḥ

"When I saw us beaten unrighteously and sent away into the forest, O Varshneya, that Suyodhana became, beyond doubt, one marked for death at my hands."

Note on the text: Corrected प्रवृजितांस्तथा → प्रव्रजितांस्तथा (misprint in Wikisource; critical edition pravrajitāṃs tathā).

Verse 16 (5.77.16)

न चैतदद्भुतं कृष्ण मित्रार्थे यच्चिकीर्षसि । क्रिया कथंच मुख्या स्यान्मृदुना चेतरेण वा ॥

na caitadadbhutaṃ kṛṣṇa mitrārthe yaccikīrṣasi | kriyā kathaṃca mukhyā syānmṛdunā cetareṇa vā

"Nor is it any wonder, Krishna, that you wish to do this for your friends' sake. But how is the action to bear fruit — by gentle means, or by the other?"

Verse 17 (5.77.17)

अथवा मन्यसे ज्यायान्वधस्तेषामनन्तरम् । तदेव क्रियतामाशु न विचार्यमतस्त्वया ॥

athavā manyase jyāyānvadhasteṣāmanantaram | tadeva kriyatāmāśu na vicāryamatastvayā

"Or if you think their death without delay is the better course, let that very thing be done at once; there is nothing further for you to weigh."

Verse 18 (5.77.18)

जानासि हि यथैतेन द्रौपदी पापबुद्धिना । परिक्लिष्टा सभामध्ये तच्च तस्योपमर्षितम् ॥

jānāsi hi yathaitena draupadī pāpabuddhinā | parikliṣṭā sabhāmadhye tacca tasyopamarṣitam

"For you know how that evil-minded man tormented Draupadi in the midst of the assembly, and how even that was borne from him."

Verse 19 (5.77.19)

स नाम सम्यग्वर्तेत पाण्डवेष्विति माधव । न मे सञ्जायते बुद्धिर्बीजमुप्तमिवोषरे ॥

sa nāma samyagvarteta pāṇḍaveṣviti mādhava | na me sañjāyate buddhirbījamuptamivoṣare

"That such a man would deal fairly with the Pandavas, Madhava, I cannot bring myself to believe, any more than that a seed sown in barren salt ground would sprout."

Verse 20 (5.77.20)

तस्माद्यन्मन्यसे युक्तं पाण्डवानां हितं च यत् । तथाऽऽशु कुरु वार्ष्णेय यन्नः कार्यमनन्तरम् ॥

tasmādyanmanyase yuktaṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ hitaṃ ca yat | tathā''śu kuru vārṣṇeya yannaḥ kāryamanantaram

"Therefore, Varshneya, do at once whatever you think proper and good for the Pandavas — whatever we must do next."