Read a Lecture by Srila Prabhupada on this Verse
©E-BYa& Maa SMa GaMa"
PaaQaR NaETatvYYauPaPaÛTae )
+aud]& ôdYadaEbRLYa& TYa¤-aeitaï ParNTaPa )) 3 ))
naitat tvayy upapadyate
kñudraà hådaya-daurbalyaà
tyaktvottiñöha parantapa
SYNONYMS
klaibyam—impotence; mä sma—do not; gamaù—take to; pärtha—O son of Påthä; na—never; etat—this; tvayi—unto you; upadyate—is befitting; kñudram—petty; hådaya—of the heart; daurbalyam—weakness; tyaktvä—giving up; uttiñöha—get up; param-tapa—O chastiser of the enemies.
TRANSLATION
O son of Påthä, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.
PURPORT
Arjuna was addressed as the son of Påthä, who happened to be the sister of Kåñëa’s father Vasudeva. Therefore Arjuna had a blood relationship with Kåñëa. If the son of a kñatriya declines to fight, he is a kñatriya in name only, and if the son of a brähmaëa acts impiously, he is a brähmaëa in name only. Such kñatriyas and brähmaëas are unworthy sons of their fathers; therefore, Kåñëa did not want Arjuna to become an unworthy son of a kñatriya. Arjuna was the most intimate friend of Kåñëa, and Kåñëa 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 Kåñëa 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 Bhéñma and his relatives, but Kåñëa 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 Kåñëa.
