Chapter2- Sloka 6
na chaitadvidmaḥ kataranno garīyo yadvā jayema yadi vā no jayeyuḥ |
yāneva hatvā na jijīviṣāmas te'vasthitāḥ pramukhe dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ || 6 ||
(2.6)
yadvā jayema- Whether we are victorious over them; yadi vā nah jayeyuḥ- or they will be victorious; katarat naḥ garīyāḥ- out of the two which is better for us; na vidma- is not known; hatvā- By killing; yān- (the ones) who are; te dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ- those sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra; (who are) avasthitaḥ- standing (ready for war); pramukhe- in front of us; (vayam- we); najijīviṣāmaḥ- do not desire a comfortable life at all;
Purport
Arjuna thought that another reason why Kṛṣṇa was instructing him to fight was to warn him that, 'If you back off now after the war has already started, Duryodhana and his army will not spare the lives of you and your brothers. So you must fight to gain victory over them'. Therefore Arjuna responded as follows, "I do not know which out of the two is better for us- our victory over them or their victory over us. It is not our wish at all to get the comforts of life by killing them. But unfortunately, those sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra are standing in front of us ready for war."
yadvā jayema yadi vā no jayeyuḥ Arjuna expressed that, since victory and defeat were uncertain in a war, whether they would win or the Kauravas would win, was not certain.
na chaitadvidmaḥ kataranno garīyaḥ With these words, Arjuna expressed the conflict in his mind about whether winning was better for them or losing. This conflict arose because Kṛṣṇa who was Arjuna's heart and soul was of the opinion that conquering Duryodhana and his army was favourable for the Pāṇḍavas, while Arjuna's personal opinion was that, not fighting the war and thus losing was better.
Assuming that Kṛṣṇa might ask him what he wished to do, Arjuna gave his opinion in advance with the following words.
yāneva hatvā ... dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ Arjuna said that he and his brothers never wished for a comfortable living at the expense of killing Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons, respectable superiors and other relatives. Hence killing them would not bring them any auspiciousness. But unfortunately they were now standing in the battlefield for war against the Pāṇḍavas. Arjuna concluded by saying that he and his brothers who were followers of dharma could not kill the Kauravas in an unrighteous manner. Therefore it was better for him and his brothers to get killed by these unrighteous Kauravas.