Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2). Rājarṣayaḥ. Rāja, kin, means he is not only king; he is a great ṛṣi, saintly person, just like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira or Arjuna. They're saintly person. They are not ordinary, this drunkard kings that, "I have got so much money. Let me drink and let there be dancing of the prostitute." Not like that. They were ṛṣi. Although they were king, they were ṛṣis. That kind of king wanted, rājarṣi. Then people will be happy. In Bengali there is a proverb, rāja pāpī rājya naṣṭa gṛhiṇī doṣī gṛhastha bhraṣṭa. In gṛhastha life, in household life, if the wife is not good, then nobody will be happy in that home, gṛhastha life, household life. Similarly, in a kingdom, if the king is impious, then everything . . . everyone will suffer. This is the proverb.
So Kṛṣṇa . . . Arjuna is thinking of the śreya and preya. Actual śreya means to achieve Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is wanting in Arjuna. He is showing that feature of life, that he wants better the society, friendship and love. He does not want to kill them. Then everything will be finished. But actually, the fact is that even after killing the so-called kinsmen, if he can satisfy Kṛṣṇa, that is his śreya. That is his śreya. That he does not know. And because he does not know, therefore this Bhagavad-gītā is there. He is playing the part that he does not know that Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate goal of life, not this so-called society, friendship and love. He is playing that part, that he does not know. He is thinking that, "Kṛṣṇa is not important." Kṛṣṇa has already asked him to fight, but he is considering that, "Kṛṣṇa, You are asking me to fight, and I have to kill my own kinsmen. Then where is my victory?"
So therefore he said . . . here in the previous verse, he has said, paśyāmi viparītāni keśava (BG 1.30): "You are asking me to fight, for my victory, for my happiness, but I see it will be just the opposite." Paśyāmi viparītāni. This is his problem. And to solve this problem, Arjuna became the disciple of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa advised him this Bhagavad-gītā, and that is the prelude. Unless Arjuna plays like that, ordinary man . . .
Anyone . . . everyone wants to be happy with this gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittaiḥ (SB 5.5.8), household life, and having some land. Now in those days there was no industry. Therefore industry is not meant. Land. If you get land, then you can produce your food. But actually that is our life. Here in this village we find so much land lying vacant, but they are not producing their food. They make their food the cows, poor cows, to kill them and eat. This is not good. Gṛha-kṣetra.
You become gṛhastha, but you produce your food from the land, gṛha-kṣetra. And when you produce food, then beget children, gṛha-kṣetra-suta-āpta-vitta. In India in village, there is, still the system is amongst the poor men, the cultivators, that if the cultivator cannot provide to keep a cow, he will not marry. Jaru and goru. Jaru means wife, and goru means cow. So one should keep a wife if he is able to keep a cow also. Jaru and goru. Because if you keep a wife, immediately there will be children. But if you cannot give them cows' milk, the children will be rickety, not very healthy. They must drink sufficient milk. So cow is therefore considered mother. Because one mother has given birth to the child, the another mother is supplying milk. So everyone should be obliged to mother cow, because she is supplying milk.
So according to our śāstra there are seven mothers. Ādau mātā, real mother, from whose body I have taken my birth. Ādau mātā, she is mother. Guru-patnī, the wife of teacher, she is also mother. Ādau mātā guru-patnī, brāhmaṇī. The wife of a brāhmaṇa, she is also mother. Ādau mātā guru-patnī brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā: the queen is mother. So how many? Ādau mātā guru-patnī brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā, then dhenu. Dhenu means cow. She is also mother. And dhātrī. Dhātrī means nurse. Dhenu dhātrī tathā pṛthvī, also the earth. Earth is also mother. The people are taking care of mother land, where he is born. That is good. But by the by, they should take care of mother cows also. But they are not taking care of mother. Therefore they are sinful. They must suffer. They must have . . . there must be war, pestilence, famine. As soon as people become sinful, immediately nature's punishment will come automatically. You cannot avoid it.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means solution of all problem, teaching people not to become sinful. Because a sinful man cannot become Kṛṣṇa conscious. To become Kṛṣṇa conscious means that he has to give up his sinful activities: no illicit sex life, no meat-eating, no intoxication, no gambling. These are the four pillars of sinful life. So people are not ready to give up this. But we do not make any compromise, that you go on with your sinful life, at the same time I sanction that you have become Kṛṣṇa conscious. No, that we cannot do. There is no compromise on this point. You must give up all this sinful life. Because there is no chance of becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious. Why you shall make a show? There is no benefit by making a show. Just like Arjuna. Arjuna is trying to make a show of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He has good attachment for other things. And the whole Bhagavad-gītā is taught to Arjuna to give up that attachment.