Bhagavad Gita · 2.3 · Transcendental Knowledge·3 of 72
क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते।क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप ॥
klaibyaṁ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitat tvayyupapadyate
kṣhudraṁ hṛidaya-daurbalyaṁ tyaktvottiṣhṭha parantapa
Sanskrit recitation
Krishna turns to face him · 2.1–2.10 · Scene
Translation
Do not yield to impotence, O Arjuna, son of Pritha. It does not befit you. Cast off this mean weakness of the heart! Stand up, O conqueror of foes!
Meaning
Arjuna was addressed as the son of Pṛthā, who happened to be the sister of Kṛṣṇa’s father Vasudeva. Therefore Arjuna had a blood relationship with Kṛṣṇa. If the son of a kṣatriya declines to fight, he is a kṣatriya in name only, and if the son of a brāhmaṇa acts impiously, he is a brāhmaṇa in name only. Such kṣatriyas and brāhmaṇas are unworthy sons of their fathers; therefore, Kṛṣṇa did not want Arjuna to become an unworthy son of a kṣatriya. Arjuna was the most intimate friend of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa was directly guiding him on the chariot; but in spite of all these credits, if Arjuna abandoned the battle he would be committing an infamous act. Therefore Kṛṣṇa said that such an attitude in Arjuna did not fit his personality. Arjuna might argue that he would give up the battle on the grounds of his magnanimous attitude for the most respectable Bhīṣma and his relatives, but Kṛṣṇa considered that sort of magnanimity mere weakness of heart. Such false magnanimity was not approved by any authority. Therefore, such magnanimity or so-called nonviolence should be given up by persons like Arjuna under the direct guidance of Kṛṣṇa.
After Swami Sivananda
Krishna turns to face him· 2.1–2.10→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 2.1Sanjaya said: To him, who was thus overcome with pity, despondent, with eyes full of tears and agitated, Madhusudana (the destroyer of Madhu) or Krishna spoke these words.
- 2.2The Blessed Lord said, "From whence has this perilous strait come upon you, this dejection which is unworthy of you, disgraceful, and which will close the gates of heaven upon you, O Arjuna?"
2.3Do not yield to impotence, O Arjuna, son of Pritha. It does not befit you. Cast off this mean weakness of the heart! Stand up, O conqueror of foes!
- 2.4Arjuna said, "O Madhusudana, how can I fight in battle with arrows against Bhishma and Drona, who are worthy of being worshipped, O destroyer of enemies?"
- 2.5Better it is, indeed, in this world to accept alms than to slay the most noble teachers. But if I were to kill them, even in this world, all my enjoyments of wealth and fulfilled desires would be stained with their blood.
- 2.6I can hardly tell which would be better, that we should conquer them or that they should conquer us. Even the sons of Dhritarashtra, whom we do not wish to slay, stand facing us.
- 2.7My heart is overpowered by the taint of pity; my mind is confused as to my duty. I ask Thee: Tell me decisively what is good for me. I am Thy disciple; instruct me, who has taken refuge in Thee.
- 2.8I do not see that this sorrow that burns up my senses would be removed, even if I were to attain prosperous and unrivaled dominion on earth or lordship over the gods.
- 2.9Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus to Hrishikesha, the Lord of the senses, Arjuna, the conqueror of sleep and destroyer of foes, said, "I will not fight," and became silent.
- 2.10To him who was despondent in the midst of the two armies, Krishna, smiling, O Bharata, spoke these words.
Word-by-word→
- na
- not
- etat
- this
- tvayi
- to you
- gamaḥ
- yield to
- mā sma
- do not
- pārtha
- Arjun, the son of Pritha
- klaibyam
- unmanliness
- tyaktvā
- giving up
- hṛidaya
- heart
- daurbalyam
- weakness
- kṣhudram
- petty
- param-tapa
- conqueror of enemies
- upapadyate
- befitting
- uttiṣhṭha
- arise
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