Sanskrit
कथं न ज्ञेयमस्माभिः पापादस्मान्निवर्तितुम् । कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं प्रपश्यद्भिर्जनार्दन ॥
kathaṃ na jñeyam asmābhiḥ pāpād asmān nivartitum kulakṣayakṛtaṃ doṣaṃ prapaśyadbhir janārdana
Translation
Why should not we learn to turn away from such a sin, O Janârdana, who see the evils in the destruction of a family?
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The turn on verse 38’s concession: precisely because the Pândavas do see the wrong the Kauravas are blind to, they have more reason to withdraw, not less. It’s a moral-responsibility argument — greater awareness creates a greater obligation to act on it — that opens directly into the consequences Arjuna spells out starting in verse 40.
Concepts