Sanskrit
ज्यायसी चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन । तत्किं कर्मणि घोरे मां नियोजयसि केशव ॥
jyāyasī cet karmaṇas te matā buddhir janārdana tat kiṃ karmaṇi ghore māṃ niyojayasi keśava
Translation
If it be thought by Thee that knowledge is superior to action, O Janârdana, why dost Thou, O Keshava, enjoin on me this terrible action?
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Arjuna reopens the question that chapter 2 left hanging: if buddhi — understanding, discernment — is superior to karma, why does Krishna keep steering him toward the “terrible action” of killing his own kin? It’s a fair challenge to Krishna’s own rhetoric, since 2.49 had already called action inferior to the yoga of intellect. The whole of chapter 3 is Krishna’s answer to this single objection, so it’s worth treating verse 1 as the chapter’s thesis question rather than a throwaway complaint.
Concepts