na hi prapashyaami mamaapanudyaad yachchokamuchchoshanamindriyaanaam |
avaapya bhoomaavasapatnamridham raajyam suraanaamapi chaadhipatyam || 8 ||
Even if I should obtain prosperity and unrivalled kingship on earth, or even supremacy over the gods, I do not see that it will drive away this sorrow that withers my senses.
na hi: do not
prapashyaami : I seemama : my
apanudyaat : drive away
yat : that which
shokam : sorrow
uchchoshanam : wither
indriyaanaam: senses
avaapya : obtain
bhoomau : on earth
asapatnam : unrivalled
ridham : prosperous
raajyam : kingdom
suraanaam : gods
api : even if
cha : and
aadhipatyam : supremacy
Arjuna realized that the sorrow caused as a result of his attachment to his kinsmen was not ordinary. It burrowed deep into his personality and lodged itself in it. This deep rooted sorrow had the effect of totally throwing his senses off track. He was not able to see or hear clearly. This sorrow was not going to be easy to remove.
In this verse, Arjuna also came to the conclusion that what he was looking for could not be found in the material world. If this were the case, he would have been happy with wealth, riches and thrones. But here we see that even supremacy over the gods was something that would not satisfy him.
Arjuna reached a point where the only thing that mattered for him was the ultimate cure for sorrow, a cure that was permanent, and not some material thing like wealth that would diminish sorrow temporarily. And this ultimate cure that he was seeking was a higher level of discrimination or viveka that would lead him to liberation.
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