Arjuna has just named the terrible consequence he fears: killing his own kinsmen. Now he goes further, naming what he thinks would be better than that.
yady apy ete na paśyanti lobhopahata-cetasaḥ | kula-kṣaya-kṛtaṃ doṣaṃ mitra-drohe ca pātakam || asmākaṃ tu kathaṃ na jñeyaṃ asmābhiḥ pāpād asmān nivartitum ||
Even if those whose minds are blinded by greed do not see the wrong in destroying a family and the sin in betraying friends, why should we, who do clearly see this wrong, not turn away from this sin?
Arjuna genuinely sees something the Kauravas don't: the real cost of what is about to happen. That clarity is not wrong. But he uses it to build a case for doing nothing. Seeing the harm clearly becomes, in his hands, a reason to exit entirely. The problem is that exiting is also a choice with consequences, and those he is not seeing as clearly.
He begins the verse by contrasting himself with the greedy, blinded opponents. They don't see. We do. This kind of comparison feels like integrity but it's doing psychological work here. By defining himself against those who act from greed, he props up his own position as the virtuous one. The retreat becomes not cowardice but wisdom.
There's a subtle move in 'why should we not know enough to turn back.' It sounds like wisdom: we know better, so we should act better. But it quietly slips from 'knowing the cost' to 'refusing to pay it.' Knowledge becomes a reason to stop, not a reason to act more carefully. This is a pattern the whole Gita is quietly diagnosing.
He knows what the harm is. He doesn't yet ask: what is the harm of not acting? What is destroyed by withdrawal? What does inaction do to the living system he is trying to protect? Those questions don't appear yet. That's the gap Krishna will spend the next seventeen chapters filling.
Person A is a senior leader who can see clearly that a major organizational decision will cause real damage: people will be hurt, trust will erode, something will be lost. They use that clarity as justification for stepping back entirely. 'I want no part of this.' They leave. They feel clean. But the decision happens anyway, shaped now by people who see less of what they saw. Person B holds the same clear view of the harm. They stay in the room. They act from the clarity, not away from it. They don't get to feel clean. But what happens is different because they were there.
Verse 1.46 is Arjuna's final statement before he collapses: he would rather let the Kauravas kill him unarmed than fight. It's the bottom of the arc. When ready, say: "1.46"