TEXT 34
akīrtiṁ cāpi bhūtāni
kathayiṣyanti te ‘vyayām
sambhāvitasya cākīrtir
maraṇād atiricyate
SYNONYMS
akīrtim—infamy; ca—also; api—over and above; bhūtāni—all people; kathayiṣyanti—will speak; te—of you; avyayām—forever; sambhāvitasya—for a respectable man; ca—also; akīrtiḥ—ill fame; maraṇāt—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 Kṛṣṇa 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.
TEXT 35
bhayād raṇād uparataṁ
maṁsyante tvāṁ mahā-rathāḥ
yeṣāṁ ca tvaṁ bahu-mato
bhūtvā yāsyasi lāghavam
SYNONYMS
bhayāt—out of fear; raṇāt—from the battlefield; uparatam—ceased; maṁsyante—they will consider; tvām—you; mahā—rathāḥ—the great generals; yeṣām—for whom; ca—also; tvam—you; bahu—mataḥ—in great estimation; bhūtvā—having been; yāsyasi—you will go; lāghavam—decreased in value.
TRANSLATION
The great generals who have highly esteemed your name and fame will think that you have left the battlefield out of fear only, and thus they will consider you insignificant.
PURPORT
Lord Kṛṣṇa continued to give His verdict to Arjuna: “Do not think that the great generals like Duryodhana, Karṇa, and other contemporaries will think that you have left the battlefield out of compassion for your brothers and grandfather. They will think that you have left out of fear for your life. And thus their high estimation of your personality will go to hell.”
