Chapter I · Śloka 37
Arjuna uvāca
यद्यप्येते न पश्यन्ति लोभोपहतचेतसः |
कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं मित्रद्रोहे च पातकम् ||
कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं मित्रद्रोहे च पातकम् ||
yady apy ete na paśyanti lobhopahata-cetasaḥ |
kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṃ doṣaṃ mitra-drohe ca pātakam ||
kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṃ doṣaṃ mitra-drohe ca pātakam ||
Even if these men, their judgment blinded by greed, do not see the sin of destroying families and the crime of treachery to friends —
Arjuna grants his opponents the excuse of moral blindness — lobha, greed, has consumed their discernment. Yet his compassion here is also a form of pride: he positions himself as the one who can still see. The Gita will reveal that his own sight is clouded too.