The Yoga of Arjuna's Despair

Arjuna declares 'na kāṅkṣe vijayam'—I don't desire victory, 'na rājyam sukhāni ca'—nor kingdom nor pleasures. Then the devastating questions: 'Kim no rājyena govinda?'—what use is kingdom to us? 'Kim bhogaiḥ jīvitena vā?'—what use enjoyments or even life itself? This isn't depression; it's existential clarity. A kingdom won by killing your family—who do you share it with? Pleasures alone, haunted by who you killed—what pleasure? The verse reveals a radical truth: when the path to your goal destroys what makes the goal meaningful, achieving it is failure. When means contradict ends, the rational response is questioning the pursuit, not pushing through.