न चैतदà¥à¤µà¤¿à¤¦à¥à¤®à¤ƒ कतरनà¥à¤¨à¥‹ गरीयो
यदà¥à¤µà¤¾ जयेम यदि वा नो जयेयà¥à¤ƒ ।
यानेव हतà¥à¤µà¤¾ न जिजीविषाम-
सà¥à¤¤à¥‡à¤½à¤µà¤¸à¥à¤¥à¤¿à¤¤à¤¾à¤ƒ पà¥à¤°à¤®à¥à¤–े धारà¥à¤¤à¤°à¤¾à¤·à¥à¤Ÿà¥à¤°à¤¾à¤ƒ ॥६॥

na caitad vidmaḥ kataran no garīyo
yad vÄ jayema yadi vÄ no jayeyuḥ
yÄn eva hatvÄ na jijÄ«viá¹£Ämas
te 'vasthitÄḥ pramukhe dhÄrtarÄṣṭrÄḥ

7 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: LBG(6) , TLKS(1)

 na - nor; ca - also; etat - this; vidmaḥ - do we know; katarat - which; naḥ - for us; garÄ«yaḥ - better; yat vÄ - whether; jayema - we may conquer; yadi - if;  - or; naḥ - us; jayeyuḥ - they conquer; yÄn - those who; eva - certainly; hatvÄ - by killing; na - never; jijÄ«viá¹£Ämaḥ - we would want to live; te - all of them; avasthitÄḥ - are situated; pramukhe - in the front; dhÄrtarÄṣṭrÄḥ - the sons of Dhá¹›tarÄṣṭra.


Text

Nor do we know which is better – conquering them or being conquered by them. If we killed the sons of Dhá¹›tarÄṣṭra, we should not care to live. Yet they are now standing before us on the battleï¬eld.

Purport

Arjuna did not know whether he should ï¬ght and risk unnecessary violence, although ï¬ghting is the duty of the ká¹£atriyas, or whether he should refrain and live by begging. If he did not conquer the enemy, begging would be his only means of subsistence. Nor was there certainty of victory, because either side might emerge victorious. Even if victory awaited them (and their cause was justiï¬ed), still, if the sons of Dhá¹›tarÄṣṭra died in battle, it would be very difï¬cult to live in their absence. Under the circumstances, that would be another kind of defeat for them. All these considerations by Arjuna deï¬nitely proved that not only was he a great devotee of the Lord but he was also highly enlightened and had complete control over his mind and senses. His desire to live by begging, although he was born in the royal household, is another sign of detachment. He was truly virtuous, as these qualities, combined with his faith in the words of instruction of ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa (his spiritual master), indicate. It is concluded that Arjuna was quite ï¬t for liberation. Unless the senses are controlled, there is no chance of elevation to the platform of knowledge, and without knowledge and devotion there is no chance of liberation. Arjuna was competent in all these attributes, over and above his enormous attributes in his material relationships.