Bhagavad Gita 1.39
कथं न ज्ञेयमस्माभिः पापादस्मान्निवर्तितुम् । कुलक्षयकृतं दोषं प्रपश्यद्भिर्जनार्दन ॥
kathaṃ na jñeyam asmābhiḥ pāpād asmān nivartitum | kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṃ doṣaṃ prapaśyadbhir janārdana ||
Translation
How should it not be known to us, who see the evil of the destruction of the family, that we should turn back from this sin, O Janardana?
Reflection
What question did you ask today that you already had the answer to?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter One
Kathaṃ na jñeyam? How could we not know? The rhetorical question lands as confidence; it is in fact the opposite. A man certain of his ground does not ask the question he is answering. Arjuna is asking it of Krishna and of himself. Nivartitum, to turn back. The word will sit unanswered for many verses. Krishna has not spoken since 1.25. The silence on the other side of the chariot is becoming the loudest thing on the field.