2.5 Better to live on alms Arjuna speaks

गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके
हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान्

gurūnahatvā hi mahānubhāvān
śhreyo bhoktuṁ bhaikṣhyamapīha loke
hatvārtha-kāmāṁstu gurūnihaiva
bhuñjīya bhogān rudhira-pradigdhān

Better to live in this world on alms than to kill these noble elders. If I killed them for the sake of gain, the food I ate afterwards would be stained with blood.

Explanation

Better to live on alms.

And then an image that is not abstract at all: the food I ate afterwards would be stained with blood.

He has moved from honour to eating. This is the same argument 1.37 made — how could we be happy — put in a form you can taste.

Word by word

gurūn: teachers
ahatvā: not killing
hi: certainly
mahā-anubhāvān: noble elders
śhreyaḥ: better
bhoktum: to enjoy life
bhaikṣhyam: by begging
api: even
iha loke: in this world
hatvā: killing
artha: gain
kāmān: desiring
tu: but
gurūn: noble elders
iha: in this world
eva: certainly
bhuñjīya: enjoy
bhogān: pleasures
rudhira: blood
pradigdhān: tainted with