Sanskrit
शौर्यं तेजो धृतिर्दाक्ष्यं युद्धे चाप्यपलायनम् । दानमीश्वरभावश्च क्षात्रं कर्म स्वभावजम् ॥ ४३ ॥
śauryaṃ tejo dhṛtir dākṣyaṃ yuddhe cāpy apalāyanam dānam īśvara-bhāvaś ca kṣātraṃ karma svabhāvajam
Translation
Prowess, splendour, firmness, dexterity, and also not flying from battle, generosity, the nature of a ruler, are the Kshattriya duty, born of his own nature.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Prowess, splendour, firmness, refusal to flee battle, generosity, a ruler’s bearing — this is, point for point, a description of what Arjuna already is, and what the whole poem has been arguing he must not abandon. Coming this late in the text, the verse plays as a quiet callback to chapter 1: the very qualities Arjuna set down along with his bow at 1.47 are here named as his birthright, not incidental to the argument but its long-deferred conclusion. The kṣatriya svadharma — Arjuna’s — is outward and active: śaurya (courage), apalāyana (not fleeing battle), īśvara-bhāva (the bearing of one who leads). This is BG 2.31–BG 2.37 at the poem’s end, answering the crisis it opened with.
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Word by word
- śauryaṃ tejo dhṛtir dākṣyaṃशौर्यं तेजो धृतिः दाक्ष्यं
- heroism, vigour, fortitude, skill (śauryam + tejaḥ + dhṛtiḥ + dākṣyam)
- yuddhe cāpy apalāyanamयुद्धे चाप्य् अपलायनं
- and not fleeing in battle (yuddhe + ca + api + apalāyanam)
- dānam īśvara-bhāvaś caदानं ईश्वर-भावश् च
- generosity, and lordly bearing (dānam + īśvara-bhāvaḥ + ca)
- kṣātraṃ karma svabhāvajamक्षात्रं कर्म स्वभावजं
- — the work of a kṣatriya, born of nature (kṣātram + karma + svabhāva-jam)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Generosity, dana, sits inside a list otherwise built from combat and command, prowess, refusal to flee, a ruler’s bearing, and its placement isn’t incidental. The verse doesn’t treat raw fighting capability as sufficient for the Kshatriya role; it binds the capacity to dominate directly to an obligation to give. Power without an accompanying practice of generosity doesn’t make this list.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- If you hold real capability or authority in some domain, expertise, strength, influence, treat the obligation to give some of it away, mentorship, time, resources, as part of the capability itself, not a separate virtue you can opt into later.
Professional
- A leader's authority to make hard calls under pressure is only half of what this list describes; the other half is generosity, credit given openly, resources shared, sponsorship extended to others. Command without generosity is an incomplete leadership profile.
Family & Social
- Being the strongest or most capable person in a family situation carries, in the same breath, an expectation of generosity toward those with less capacity right now — the two aren't separate virtues here, they're one role.
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