nimittaani cha pashyaami vipareetani keshava |
na cha shreyanepashyaami hatva svajanamaahave || 31 ||
O Keshava, I see omens that are inauspicious. I also do not see the good in killing my kinsmen in battle.
nimittaani : omens
cha : also
pashyaami : see
vipareetani : negative
keshava : Krishna
na cha : also not
shreya: good
anupashyaami : I see
hatva : kill
svajanam : kinsmen
aahave : in battle
When one's emotions are running unchecked, rationality goes out the window. That's when one starts talking or thinking about irrational things like superstition, which is what Arjuna was alluding to in this verse.
On the surface, one would attribute Arjuna's second statement in this verse to an outpouring of compassion towards his kinsmen. But, would an outpouring of compassion cause a panic attack? The true underlying emotion that caused the panic attack was fear. And what was Arjuna afraid of? Arjuna was accustomed to winning every war that he fought. When he saw the caliber of warriors in the Kaurava army, his ego felt extremely threatened that maybe this time it won't win. Here we see that Arjuna's ego was trying to deflect this fear by substituting compassion for the true emotion of fear.
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