Sanskrit
हतो वा प्राप्स्यसि स्वर्गं जित्वा वा भोक्ष्यसे महीम् । तस्मादुत्तिष्ठ कौन्तेय युद्धाय कृतनिश्चयः ॥
hato vā prāpsyasi svargaṃ jitvā vā bhokṣyase mahīm tasmād uttiṣṭha kaunteya yuddhāya kṛtaniścayaḥ
Translation
Slain, thou wilt obtain heaven; victorious, thou wilt enjoy the earth; therefore stand up, O son of Kuntî, resolute to fight.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Having listed what’s lost by not fighting (32–36), Krishna closes this argument track with what’s gained either way by fighting: heaven if slain, the earth if victorious. Read alongside verse 38’s very next line, though, this isn’t the chapter’s final word — it’s the last rung of the consequentialist ladder before Krishna immediately relativizes outcomes altogether (“taking as equal pleasure and pain, gain and loss”). “Uttiṣṭha” returns — the same command as BG 2.3, now with a reason attached. The kṛta-niścaya, “having made the resolve,” it asks for is exactly the single-pointed buddhi that BG 2.41 will hold up against a scattered one.
Study deeper
Word by word
- hato vā prāpsyasi svargaṃहतो वा प्राप्स्यसि स्वर्गं
- slain, you will gain heaven (hataḥ + vā + prāpsyasi + svargam)
- jitvā vā bhokṣyase mahīmजित्वा वा भोक्ष्यसे महीं
- or victorious, you will enjoy the earth (jitvā + vā + bhokṣyase + mahīm)
- tasmādतस्माद्
- therefore
- uttiṣṭhaउत्तिष्ठ
- stand up
- kaunteyaकौन्तेय
- O son of Kuntī
- yuddhāyaयुद्धाय
- for battle
- kṛtaniścayaḥकृतनिश्चयः
- resolved (kṛta-niścayaḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
After six verses of sustained argument, the sentence ends not with another reason but with a bare imperative — “stand up.” The grammar itself performs the transition Krishna is making: argument has a natural stopping point, and past it, more reasons stop being useful and become a way of delaying the actual standing up.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you've already given yourself enough reasons to act, notice the moment more deliberation stops helping and starts becoming a way to avoid moving — the discipline is recognizing when arguing is done and acting is what's left.
Professional
- When a team has debated a decision thoroughly and keeps circling for more justification, recognize that continuing to argue may now be substituting for the harder step of committing and executing — call the debate closed and move to action.
Family & Social
- When you've talked through a hard decision with someone enough times that the reasoning is settled, notice if you're both still talking instead of acting — sometimes the caring thing is to stop discussing and take the next concrete step.
Ask yourself
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