BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:34

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 2:34

 

akirtim capi bhutani

kathayisyanti te 'vyayam

sambhavitasya cakirtir

maranad atiricyate

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

akirtim--infamy; ca--also; api--over and above; bhutani--all people;

kathayisyanti--will speak; te--of you; avyayam--forever;

sambhavitasya--for a respectable man; ca--also; akirtih--ill fame;

maranat--than death; atiricyate--becomes more.

 

TRANSLATION

 

People will always speak of your infamy, and for a respectable person,

dishonor is worse than death.

 

PURPORT

 

Both as friend and philosopher to Arjuna, Lord Krsna now gives His

final judgment regarding Arjuna's refusal to fight. The Lord says,

"Arjuna, if you leave the battlefield before the battle even begins,

people will call you a coward. And if you think that people may call

you bad names but that you will save your life by fleeing the

battlefield, then My advice is that you'd do better to die in the

battle. For a respectable man like you, ill fame is worse than death.

So, you should not flee for fear of your life; better to die in the

battle. That will save you from the ill fame of misusing My friendship

and from losing your prestige in society."

 

So, the final judgment of the Lord was for Arjuna to die in the battle

and not withdraw.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.