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Bhagavad Gita · 2.3 · Transcendental Knowledge·3 of 72

क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यतेक्षुद्रं 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.

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

Related verses

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