The Yoga of Arjuna's Despair

Arjuna names them specifically. Not 'the enemy'—ācāryāḥ (teachers who shaped you), pitaraḥ (fathers who raised you), putrāḥ (sons you raised), pitāmahāḥ (grandfathers who gave you history). Each word is a role, a history, memories and obligations. The verse teaches that specificity matters devastatingly. We use abstraction to make harm bearable: 'workforce reduction' instead of 'firing Sarah.' When we abstract people into categories, we can harm them. When we see them as ācāryāḥ, pitaraḥ—specific people with histories—harming them becomes recognizably harming us, harming what makes life meaningful.