This shloka begins Arjuna’s next line of argument.

Until now, Arjuna has been saying that he does not want victory, kingdom, pleasures, or happiness if his own people are destroyed. Now he starts speaking about the wider evils of war.

He says, yadyapi ete na paśyanti — “even though these people do not see.” Ete means “these people,” referring to the Kauravas. Arjuna is saying that they are not seeing something important.

Why are they not seeing? Because they are lobhopahatacetasaḥ — people whose minds are overpowered by greed. Lobhaḥ [greed] has struck or damaged their cetas [mind]. Their thinking is not clear because greed has taken over.

What are they not seeing?

First, kulakṣayakṛtaṁ doṣam — the evil caused by the destruction of families. Kulam means family. Kṣayaḥ means destruction. Doṣaḥ means defect, evil, or harmful consequence. In war, many men who are heads and protectors of families may die. When such people are destroyed, the family structure itself is damaged. The detailed chain of consequences will be discussed in the following shlokas. Here Arjuna only introduces the point: family destruction has serious negative consequences.

Second, mitradrohe ca pātakam — the sin involved in harming or betraying friends and well-wishers. Mitra means friend or ally. Drohaḥ means injury, betrayal, or hostile action. People who should be helped and protected are instead being harmed. That is seen as pātakam [sin or grave wrong].

Arjuna’s immediate argument is: “The Kauravas do not see these evils because their minds are overcome by greed. But we are able to see them. Therefore, we should withdraw.”

There is truth in the statement that war causes terrible harm. Family destruction is a serious problem. Betraying friends and hurting one’s own people is a serious wrong. These points are not false by themselves.

The problem is the place from which Arjuna is speaking.

He is not standing in calm dharma-vicāra [enquiry into dharma]. He is speaking from a mind already weakened by rāgaḥ [attachment], śokaḥ [sorrow], and mohaḥ [confusion or delusion]. Because of that, even true arguments are being used in a confused way.

The war had not been chosen lightly. The Pāṇḍavas had tried peaceful methods. The Kauravas had acted through greed and adharma. Now Arjuna says, “They are greed-blinded and do not see the evil. We see it, so we should withdraw.”

This is still part of mohaḥ [confusion or delusion]. The intellect can use good arguments to support a wrong conclusion when the mind is weak. It may say beautiful things about peace, kindness, family, and friendship, but still be avoiding its own duty.

The shloka teaches a subtle lesson: a statement may be true, but it may still be wrongly applied. “War causes harm” is true. “Family destruction is terrible” is true. “Harming friends is wrong” is true. But whether those truths mean “therefore I must abandon this dharma-yuddha [righteous war]” requires clear dharma-vicāra [enquiry into dharma], not sorrow-driven reasoning.