Sanskrit
यदि मामप्रतीकारमशस्त्रं शस्त्रपाणयः । धार्तराष्ट्रा रणे हन्युस्तन्मे क्षेमतरं भवेत् ॥
yadi mām apratīkāram aśastraṃ śastrapāṇayaḥ dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe hanyus tan me kṣemataraṃ bhavet
Translation
If the sons of Dhritarâshtra, weapon in hand, should slay me, unresisting, unarmed, in the battle, that would for me be the better.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Arjuna’s argument reaches its final, most extreme point: he would rather be killed unarmed and unresisting than fight. It’s the last thing he says before laying down his weapons in the verse that follows — the logical endpoint of everything argued since verse 31, stated as a preference for his own death over the deaths he’s being asked to cause.
Study deeper
Word by word
- yadiयदि
- if
- māmमां
- me
- apratīkāramअप्रतीकारं
- unresisting
- aśastraṃअशस्त्रं
- unarmed
- śastra-pāṇayaḥशस्त्र-पाणयः
- weapons in hand
- dhārtarāṣṭrāधार्तराष्ट्रा
- Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sons
- raṇeरणे
- in battle
- hanyusहन्युस्
- should kill
- tan me kṣemataraṃ bhavetतन् मे क्षेमतरं भवेत्
- that would be the better thing for me
Commentary
Site Commentary
Notice the specific shape of what Arjuna proposes: not mutual withdrawal, not a negotiated stand-down, but himself alone unarmed while the Kauravas remain armed. It’s a resolution built entirely out of self-sacrifice rather than a change in the conflict itself — and that particular shape, solving a problem by unilaterally absorbing its cost, is exactly what Krishna’s answer in Chapter 2 will refuse to accept.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you're tempted to resolve a conflict by simply absorbing all its cost yourself — stepping back, going quiet, taking the hit alone — check whether that actually changes anything, or whether it just relocates the harm onto you without addressing what caused it.
Professional
- If your instinct in a team conflict is to unilaterally back down or take the blame to end the friction, notice that this resolves your discomfort without resolving the actual disagreement — the underlying issue usually needs to be addressed, not absorbed.
Family & Social
- If you find yourself wanting to end a family conflict by quietly sacrificing your own position rather than working through it together, notice that this ends your discomfort without actually resolving what caused the conflict in the first place.
Ask yourself
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