Gita 02.04 – Resolve conflicts among different roles by raising consciousness

Thank you Bhishmam Arjuna is speaking responding to Krishna's statements that he is not given to weakness and he says how can I in a fight counter Bhishma, Dronacharya and Drona my grandfather and a martial teacher Madhusudana O Krishna you who are the killer of the Madhu demon and Eshubhi Pratiyotsyami how can I cast arrows at them Eshubhi what I should be Pujarhav, Arisudana Pujarhav, I should be actually worshipping them I should be offering flower garlands to them in honor of them and Arisudana you are the killer, but you are the killer of your enemies so two names are used, there is a poetic rhyme that happens, Madhusudana and Arisudana which both come at the end of the line so normally Sanskrit verses, the specific lines can be referred to by the letters A, B, C, D referring to the first, second, third and fourth lines respectively so 2.4B and 2.4D have the rhyming last word Madhusudana and Arisudana now here the point is that Krishna, you are the killer of the Madhu demon, you are the killer of your enemies how can you expect me to kill my friends our Acharyas explain that the implication of Arjuna's question is that how can you would you shoot arrows at Sandipani Muni, your Guru or at Maharaja Ugrasen, your grandfather no, you are the killer of your enemies, not your relatives not your pujarhavajal, not your worshipable people relatives, loved ones, so how can you expect me to fight against them now the whole sequence is actually going in terms of rhetorical questions earlier, kutasthva kashmalamidam, where has this weakness come from so rhetorical questions they don't require a specific answer the answer is implicit in the way in this phase, so where has this weakness come from that means this weakness should not be there in you it doesn't belong to you so how can I shoot arrows so it is a rhetorical question in Sanskrit we don't use punctuation marks the way we use in English so there may not be a question mark over here but the usage of the words indicate that it is an interrogation, it is a question so he is saying that how can I shoot so it is a rhetorical question, which means, I cannot shoot the answer is implicit in it now, Arjuna's response especially to the charge of being weak hrdayaurbalya, kshudrata klaibyata is that, actually it is not klaibyata it is the agonizing emotionally wrenching nature of the situation that is causing him to hesitate in fighting, that is what Arjuna is saying that it is not sentimentality it is not cowardice it is not any such degrading emotion it is a rightful, natural necessary consideration, Arjuna is explaining how can I kill my venerable elder ones, whom I should be offering flowers and worshipping how can I shoot arrows at them through the rhetorical question Arjuna is countering Krishna's accusation of weakness of heart.