Prince Arjuna said:
(Addressing the Lord), O infallible You, lead, I pray, my chariot between the two armies that I may see who is on the lines, who desires to fight, who I shall have to face in the imminent battle.
Let me see those who have come here to fight in the hope of pleasing the evil son of Dhirtarastra.
Dear Krishna, to see so mine, before me in bellicose lines, I tremble with all my limbs and feel my mouth dry out.
My whole body shivers and my hair bristles. My bow, Gandiva, falls from my hands, and my skin burns.
O Kesava (one of the innumerable Names of Krishna), I cannot dwell here any longer. I am no longer in control of myself and my mind goes astray; I only foreshadow fatal events.
What good can this fight bring, where my own family will be slaughtered?
At such a price, O Krishna, how could I still desire victory, yearn for royalty and the pleasures it brings?
O Govinda (one of the innumerable Names of Krishna), served by so many realms, served by happiness, what good is life even, when those for whom we desire these goods now stand on the battlefield?
O Madhusudana (one of the innumerable Names of Krishna), look. All my family, my fathers, sons, ancestors, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons and brothers-in-law, and my masters too, all ready to sacrifice their lives and wealth, stand before me. How could I wish their death, if by this I survive?
O You who hold all beings, I cannot resolve to fight against them, even in exchange for the three worlds, and what to say about this earth.
Although they are our aggressors, if we kill our friends and the sons of Dhirtarastra, we will be the prey of sin; such a crime would be unworthy of us. And what profit would it make?
O Krishna, You the Spouse of the goddess of fortune, how could we ever be happy after killing those of our lineage?
O Janardana (one of the innumerable Names of Krishna), if, blinded by lust, these men see no harm in destroying their family, no fault in quarreling with their friends, why should we, who see sin, do the same?
The destruction of a family leads to the collapse of eternal traditions; its last representatives then sink into irreligion.
When ungodliness, O Krishna, reigns in a family, women corrupt themselves, and from their degradation, O Descendant of Vrsni, an undesirable offspring is born.
The increase in the number of these undesirables generates for the family, and for those who destroyed the traditions, a life of hell. The ancestors are forgotten, we stop offering them the oblations of water and food.
Those who, by their irresponsible acts, break the tradition of lineage, they cause the abandonment of the principles by which prosperity and harmony reign within the family and the nation.
I have it from authorized source, O Krishna: those who destroy family traditions live forever in hell.
Alas, out of a thirst for the pleasures of royalty, is it not strange that we are now preparing to commit such great crimes?
It is better to die at the hands of the sons of Dhirtarastra, unarmed and without resistance, than to fight against them.