Arjunas Cost Benefit Analysis Gita Verses 8 Chapter 1 Verses 31 – 36

Thank you. So, Arjuna has seen the warriors on both sides.
And seeing them, he sees this going to be a multi-generational fratricide. And he is, what am I doing over here? Physically he is afflicted and emotionally, ethically he is conflicted. So, we’ll see what is he thinking.
This text 31. So, the previous text ended with the point that he is seeing Viparitanikeshava. He is seeing inauspiciousness everywhere.
So, while the Gita is a series of verses or points being spoken by each character, the commentators have also dived deep into the mood of the two people. And as they are anticipating, when two people are having a conversation, say, then when a person speaks something, they have a thought. Then when they’re going to speak the next point, at that time they anticipate what this person might speak.
And they say, okay, this might be your concern. This could be your question. This could be your objection.
This is how I address it. Because sometimes there is unspoken communication between two people who understand each other quite well. So, the text 30 was where he stopped.
So, he’s saying, I see only causes of inauspiciousness. I see only impending disasters. So, in one sense, the obvious response to it could be that, but there is victory available for you.
You can win this war. You can gain a kingdom. You can have prosperity.
How can you consider those to be inauspicious? So, he’s saying that I don’t see any long-term gain, the Sanskrit word Shreya. I don’t see long-term gain in killing my own relatives. What is the long-term gain in killing my relatives? And if that is the cost, then I feel that the cost is way too much for the result.
The result is that kingdom and victory. So, I don’t want it. So, we often do this cost-benefit analysis that you could say, how much do I have to pay? How much will I get out of it? So, he’s saying that what I’ll have to pay losing my own people, my own relatives, my own family, that’s too much of a cost to me.
I can’t pay it. That’s why I don’t see any long-term good. He’s saying that you might think that the victory and kingdom, indirectly he’s saying, with the cost of killing relatives, this is a long-term harm.
And indirectly he’s stating that a victory and kingdom is a short-term. So, that is the implication. And he’s saying that I am thinking in the big picture.
And I don’t think this war is worth it. That’s a thought over here. The question might come up that why do you feel the cost is so much? So, he’s saying, what is the value of the kingdom? So, he is not just making statements.
He’s not, in one sense, really advancing an argument. He’s asking rhetorical questions. And that’s often a powerful way of stating.
What is the use of working so hard if you have no time for your family? If your family feels they don’t care for you? What is the use of exercising so much that you are in constant pain because of the exercise and you are not able to do any activity with fitness? So, what is the point of it? He’s using rhetorical questions over here to convey his point. So, the previous point was saying that the cost is far greater than the benefit. So, he’s elaborating how he thinks the cost is greater.
Now, although he has seen the entire array of warriors across multiple generations, there are some whom he cares for especially. And generally speaking for us, we often think that happiness comes by achievements. And there is some truth to that.
Oh, you know, I buy this big house. I get this new car. I become the, maybe I get the best employee award in my company.
These are all achievements. And yes, there is some truth to it. But actually, what makes even those achievements joyful is when we can share our joy with others.
When there’s someone with whom we can celebrate those joys, celebrate those achievements. So, if you don’t have those, so we need people to celebrate with. Now, for Arjuna, if you consider the situation is he’s here and he’s thinking of his two venerable elders Bhishma and Drona.
So, he has trained in archery diligently throughout his life. He’s become a champion archer while that is undoubtedly true. And he’s, of course, a toughened warrior.
But still, no matter how we grow up, how much we grow up, there’s always a child inside us. And those who are elder, those who are seniors, we long for some appreciation, some encouragement, some recognition for them. So, he’s saying that, you know, if I win a great war, I would like to go and tell Drona about it.
And I would like to thank him. It is by your skills that I was able to win the war. I would like to tell Bhishma about it.
That it is in your dynasty, the dynasty that you guarded amidst so many dangers, is that in that dynasty now, I have achieved this victory. So, achievements in themselves are hollow if there is, if the people with whom you’re going to share those achievements are not there. And he’s saying that actually, if they are dead, what to speak of celebrity achievements, I won’t be able to even endure my life.
So, he says three things. There’s kingdom, there is happiness, and then there is life, life itself. He says, all of them are valueless to me.
What is the value? If with those with whom I would like to enjoy these, those are no longer there. And he says, not only will they be not there, they will be not there because of me. How can I do that? I can’t.
He says that, yes, if now we are in a terrible war and if I don’t kill them, they will kill me. But yet, I can’t bring it in my heart to kill them. So, he says that, how can I kill the sons of Dhritarashtra? So, that’s the last part he’s in.
The sons of Dhritarashtra and Guryodhana and others, they have severely offended Arjuna, not just offended, exploited and abused and defrauded Arjuna and his family. And he knows that the war is primarily against them. The war is between them.
But he says that, because they are all one unit. So, he says that, I can’t kill them. I can’t even, I can’t kill them.
And therefore, I can’t kill him. He’ll do it because they’re all together. I just can’t do it.
So, he’s telling that, we talked about the cost and the benefit. So, he is emphasizing that the cost is way too much. In fact, he says the benefit, if you consider a weighing scale, you say this is the two sides of a weighing scale and the two are equal, that means we don’t know what to do.
But he is now talking about the cost and he’s talking about the benefit. So, he’s telling that the cost, okay, so it becomes sort of like this, isn’t it? So, he’s saying the cost is way, way too high. And he’s saying the benefit, it’s just worthless.
The benefit is nothing. That life, kingdom, happiness, all of them are utterly valueless. So, this benefit is nothing and the cost is almost everything that I live for.
So, I just can’t do it. So, here we see that while Arjuna is speaking, it’s not simply that he is overcome by emotions in a way that just reduces him to a blobbering mass of tears. He is articulating himself quite clearly and he’s quite forcefully also, quite poignantly he’s articulating himself.
And he’s saying that this is just not worth it. I like the way he put it, testament to the power of love. He is a person who cares deeply and because he cares deeply, that’s why he’s affected so much.
He is devastated, he’s shattered and now he’s anticipating another objection. Yeah, you say that, okay, all that you’re saying is true, but they’re bad people on the side. You may not want to kill them, you may be ready to kill them, but they are terrible people and it is your duty to kill them because you are a protector of society.
So, he addresses that now. So, now he’s addressing a point that the word used in Sanskrit is Atataina, the English is aggressors. So, the point of this word aggressors is that in certain situations, violence is warranted.
Not only is it warranted, it may even be necessitated. So, for example, if somebody comes to our house and they come with a gun and they’re threatening to break into the house and they are threatening that I’m going to shoot everyone over here. Then at that time, if we have a gun, we may decide that as soon as they break the door, I’m going to shoot them before they get a positive shooting.
So, when somebody is an aggressor, at that time, violence can be warranted. So, he says, yes, they are aggressors, he said, but still they are my relatives. And he says, what will I gain by killing them? What I will, when he says, what I will gain is what I will lose is far greater by that.
So, in general, when we are thinking, especially when we have to take in multiple facts, then which fact do we emphasize? That is important. So, Arjuna has two facts to consider, that the other side is aggressors and they are relatives. So, Arjuna’s reasoning is, he’s focusing more on the fact that they are relatives.
And he’s saying that, so you could say that two ways, even if they are relatives, they are still are aggressors. So, this would be the opposite emphasis. That’s the point which he’s thinking, they’re aggressors, then they have to be penalized, they have to be disciplined, they have to be punished.
The other could be, even if they are aggressors, they are relatives, they still are relatives. So, the same set of facts can lead to two different conclusions because what is happening is different fact is emphasized. So, Arjuna is emphasizing the fact that they are relatives and not the fact that they’re aggressors.
He’s saying, what will I gain? And he’s not only talking in terms of gain, in terms of say immediate gain, he’s also thinking that there is long-term gain, he says there is none. In fact, there is harm and that harm he’s talking in terms of papa, that is sin. So, will sin overcome us? So, we will talk about this idea of sin later, but let’s talk about it in secular terms, sin and crime are not the same thing, but they’re similar.
So, if somebody is an aggressor, if somebody is breaking into our house to kill us, if we shoot them, normally we would say that you’re not culpable. If it’s proven that you attacked for self-defense, then you are not going to be criminally charged for that. But Arjuna is saying, no, the fact that they are relatives, that I know that and still I’m fighting against them and I’m fighting for a kingdom, it’s not worth it.
He says that, he’s talking about sin here in terms of if I value kingdom more than I value the life of my relatives, then that itself would be wrong on my part and that’s how sin will overcome me. One western scholar on the Gita, he said that, when I read the first chapter, I liked Arjuna and then when Krishna refuted Arjuna, from that time, I stopped liking Krishna. Arjuna’s argument seems so much stronger.
Yeah, Arjuna is actually building a very strong case over here and to understand how Krishna will respond to that, that’s, it’s a fascinating discussion and it will, we have to do it very carefully because while Arjuna’s arguments are based on almost emotional considerations, Krishna’s arguments seem to be based more on rational or philosophical consideration. That is why they seem a little more inaccessible. They’re not like that but they can seem like that.
In the session today, we just continued the discussion. It’s only Arjuna’s reasons or reasoning for not fighting and essentially his reasoning is that the cost is far greater than the benefit. So, and he’s arriving that the cost is far greater than the benefit in multiple ways.
So, the first thing he says is that, what will I gain? So, the first thing he just makes a rhetorical question. What will we gain by it? That means he’s overall saying that, in his opinion, the gain is much lesser and then he’s saying that, on their side are relatives who, not only I care for, who I celebrate success with. That care is one thing.
So, if they are not there, then what is the point of victory? So, without them, victory is hollow. So, that’s there, that’s his point. This is parallel to Bhishma and Drona and then he may say that, okay, that’s the case, but still, isn’t it the fact that they are aggressors? Okay, but he says that even if they’re aggressors, still that is a less important fact than the fact that they’re relatives.
And therefore, he thinks that taking their life is not as, especially when it’s for a kingdom, I just don’t feel it. The kingdom is far less valuable than the lives of my relatives. And therefore, he says, I will not fight.
So, for him, overall, if you consider the cost-benefit, it’s become hugely tilted. It’s almost like this, that the benefits is next to nothing and the cost is everything for him, he feels. And therefore, he says, I just can’t fight.
Thank you. So, here we are towards the end of the first chapter very clearly. So,