SB 1.9.36 (1964)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 36
Byabahita pritanamukham nirikshaya Swajana badhat bimukhasya dosabudhya Kumatim aharad atmavidyaya yah Charana ratih paramasya me astu tasya.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Byabahita—standing at distance, Pritana—soldiers, Mukham—faces, Niriksahya-by looking over, Swajana—kinsmen, Badhat—from the act of killing, Bimukhasya—one who is reluctant, Dosabudhya—by poluted intelligence, Kumatim—poor fund of knowledge, Aharad—eradicated, Atmavidyaya—by transcendental knowledge, Yah—the person, Charana—feet, Rati—attraction, Paramasya—of the supreme, Me—mine, Astu—let there be, Tasya—for Him.
TRANSLATION
When Arjuna was poluted by his seemingly poor fund of knowledge by observing the soldiers and the commanders before him in the battle field, the Person Who eradicated such poor fund of knowledge by deliverance of transcendental knowledge may remain always the object of my attraction by His lotus feet.
PURPORT
The Kings and the commanders were to stand in the front of the fighting soldiers and that was the system of actual fighting. The kings and commanders were not so called President or Ministers of Defence of the modern days; and they were not meant for staying at home while the poor soldiers or mercenaries were to fight face to face. This may be the regulation of the modern democracy but when actual monarchy was prevailling the monarchs were not coward elected executive heads chosen from any community without consideration of his royal qualification. As it was evident from the battlefield of Kurukshetra it is understood that all the executive heads like Drona, Bhisma, Arjuna, Duryadhona, and all like them of both the parties were not sleeping partners of the fight but all of them were actual participants in the fighting selected to be executed at a place away from the civil residential quarters. This means the innocent citizens were immune from all effects of fighting between the rival royal parties. The citizens had no business to see what was going to happen after such fighting. They were to pay one fourth of their income to the ruler never mind what he is either Arjuna or Duryodhona. As such all the commanders of the parties in the battlefield of Kurukshetra were standing face to face and Arjuna saw them with great compassion that he was to kill his kinsmen in the battlefield for the sake of the empire. He was not at all afraid of the giant military phalanx presented by Duryodhona but as a merciful devotee of the Lord renunciation of worldly things was natural for him and thus he decided not to fight for the worldly possession and that also by killing the kinsmen. But this was due to poor fund of knowledge and therefore it is said here that his intelligence became polluted. His intelligence could not be polluted at any time because he was a devotee and constant companion of the Lord as it will be cleared off in the fourth chapter of the Bhagwat Geeta. Apparently Arjuna became polluted by his intelligence like that, otherwise there would not have been a chance for delivering the teachings of Bhagwat Geeta for the good of all polluted conditioned souls encaged in material bondage by the conception of relationship of the false material body. The Bhagwat Geeta was delivered to the conditioned souls of the world just to deliver them from the wrong conception of identifying the body with the soul and soul's eternal relation with the Supreme Lord. Atmavidya or transcendental knowledge of Himself was primarily spoken by the Lord for benefit of all concerned in all parts of the universe.