Previous
Pandavas
The side of the Bharata family that opposes Arjuna and the Pandavas. The Kauravas descend from the blind king Dhritarashtra, to whom Sanjaya narrates the Bhagavad Gita. At the beginning of the text, they outnumber the Pandavas, and Arjuna describes them as bloodthirsty.
Kauravas Quotes in The Bhagavad Gita
The The Bhagavad Gita quotes below are all either spoken by Kauravas or refer to Kauravas. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Discourse 1 Quotes
The great cry
tore the hearts
of the Sons
of Dhritarashtra
the tumult
made the sky
and the earth
resound.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As the Pandavas and Kauravas line up on the battlefield, each side blows conch horns as a declaration of their presence, a show of force, and perhaps also an appeal to the gods. The Kauravas’ horns cause a commotion that pales in comparison to this earthshaking tumult emanating from the Pandavas’ divine horns. Although Arjuna has not even begun to question his dharma at this stage in the Gita, the world’s response to his horn (and those of his brothers and allies) foreshadows Krishna’s favor to him and suggests that, despite their inferior forces, the Pandavas are divinely ordained to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occae
I see no good
in killing
my people
in battle,
Lovely-Haired Krishna!
Krishna, I long
neither for victory
nor kingship
nor pleasures.
Lord of the Cows,
what is kingship to us,
what are delights,
or life itself?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As he stands between the two sides of his family (both literally and symbolically), Arjuna realizes that he cannot bring himself to kill the Kauravas, even though doing so would make him Hastinapura’s ruler. Arjuna does not want power and revenge like his cousins and brothers, which shows that he is not driven by the worldly desires that Krishna later connects to the guna of rajas, or passion. However, he still assumes that these would be the only valid reasons to fight. Moreover, Arjuna’s reluctance to act comes from his emotional attachment to his family, which Krishna soon explicates as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit.
Get the entire The Bhagavad Gita LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Kauravas Term Timeline in The Bhagavad Gita
The timeline below shows where the term Kauravas appears in The Bhagavad Gita. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Discourse 1
...the blind king of Hastinapura, asks his minister, Sanjaya, what happened when his sons (the Kauravas) met their cousins (the Pandavas) “in the field of dharma” to battle for the kingdom...
(full context)
...Pandavas’ horns are divine and specifically named, and their cry “tore the hearts” of the Kauravas, causing the earth and sky to shake.
(full context)
...Arjuna asks Krishna to bring their chariot between the armies. Arjuna gazes out on the Kauravas, asks whom he must fight first, and notes his enemies’ devotion to their cause. Krishna...
(full context)
...and power, Arjuna declares he would find “greater peace” were he to simply suffer the Kauravas’ attack unarmed. He drops his bow and arrow, “recoiling in grief.”
(full context)
Discourse 2
...eat a beggar’s food than fight them. It would be just as good for the Kauravas to win, Arjuna says, for he would not want to continue living even if the...
(full context)
Discourse 11
Arjuna saw all of the Bharatas, the Pandavas and Kauravas alike, enter Krishna’s mouth and get crushed between his teeth, like river currents running toward...
(full context)
Krishna proclaims that he has come “to destroy the worlds,” for the Pandavas and Kauravas will die regardless of Arjuna’s presence. So Arjuna must fight for his honor and kingdom,...
(full context)
