Chapter I, Section 1b

That tumultuous din rent the hearts of all (the people) of Dh ri tarâsh t ra's (party), causing reverberations throughout heaven and earth. Then seeing (the people of ) Dh ri tarâsh t ra's party regularly marshalled, the son of Pâ nd u, whose standard is the ape, raised his bow , after the discharge of missiles had commenced, and O king of the earth! spake these words to H ri shîke s a: 'O undegraded one! station my chariot between the two armies, while I observe those, who stand here desirous to engage in battle, and with whom, in the labours of this struggle, I must do battle. I will observe those who are assembled here and who are about to engage in battle, wishing to do service in battle to the evil-minded son of Dh ri tarâsh t ra.' Sañ g aya said: Thus addressed by Gu d âke s a , O descendant of Bharata ! H ri shîke s a stationed that excellent chariot between the two armies, in front of Bhîshma and Dro n a and of all the kings of the earth, and said O son of P ri thâ! look at these assembled Kauravas.' There the son of P ri thâ saw in both armies, fathers and grandfathers, preceptors, maternal uncles, brothers, sons , grandsons, companions, fathers-in-law, as well as friends. And seeing all those kinsmen standing (there), the son of Kuntî was overcome by excessive pity, and spake thus despondingly. Ar g una said: Seeing these kinsmen, O K ri sh n a! standing (here) desirous to engage in battle, my limbs droop down; my mouth is quite dried up; a tremor comes on my body; and my hairs stand on end; the Gâ nd îva (bow) slips from my hand; my skin burns intensely. I am unable, too, to stand up; my mind whirls round, as it were; O Ke s ava! I see adverse omens ; and I do not perceive any good (to accrue) after killing (my) kinsmen in the battle. I do not wish for victory, O K ri sh n a! nor sovereignty, nor pleasures: what is sovereignty to us, O Govinda! what enjoyments, and even life? Even those, for whose sake we desire sovereignty, enjoyments, and pleasures, are standing here for battle, abandoning life and wealth-preceptors, fathers, sons as well as grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, as also (other) relatives. These I do not wish to kill, though they kill (me), O destroyer of Madhu ! even for the sake of sovereignty over the three worlds, how much less then for this earth (alone)? What joy shall be ours, O G anârdana! after killing Dh ri tarâsh t ra's sons? Killing these felons we shall only incur sin. Therefore it is not proper for us to kill our own kinsmen, the sons of Dh ri tarâsh t ra. For how, O Mâdhava! shall we be happy after killing our own relatives? Although having their consciences corrupted by avarice, they do not see the evils flowing from the extinction of a family, and the sin in treachery to friends, still, O Ganârdana! should not we, who do see the evils flowing from the extinction of a family, learn to refrain from that sin? On the extinction of a family, the eternal rites of families are destroyed . Those rites being destroyed, impiety predominates over the whole family .