Chapter 2, Verse 34
akīrtiṁ cāpi bhūtāni
kathayiṣyanti te’vyayām
saṁbhāvitasya cākīrtir
maraṇād-atiricyate
Besides, men will recount your perpetual disgrace, and to an honourable man, dishonour is worse than death.
Here Krishna is using reverse psychology, talking about guilt in another way. He says to Arjuna, “If you don’t do your duty, you will lose your reputation and you will be exposed to sin. People will talk badly of you, but not only that, the rishis and the celestials will all look at you in a questioning way. Your ancestors will also be crying. So, get up and fight! Don’t let people talk ill of you. You are from the warrior clan!”
“...dishonour is worse than death.” It is very important to understand that, during this time, people were very concerned about their honour and about giving their word. When they gave their word, they kept it. They would rather have died than not have kept their word. The Lord reminds Arjuna, “It will be painful to lose people’s respect and be dishonoured: better death than dishonour.”
Krishna tells him that if he runs away, he will not be able to walk in this world because everybody in every corner will be saying nasty things about him. Krishna doesn’t leave it there. He says that even in Heaven, they will say bad things about him. He says, “Forget about your honour here on Earth: ‘men will recount your perpetual disgrace.’ For time immemorial, people will remember it. And this will not only react here, it will also react in Heaven. Imagine that one day you will go to Heaven, and there they will also nag you! When you are dying here, you think you will go somewhere and be free, but this will continue with you there.”
Know that this is very important to understand. To run away from certain things, people often kill themselves, they commit suicide. They think, “Ah, I have escaped!” Yes, in this life, people have run away. Do you think that their problem has left them? No, it has not left them! It will continue and become even worse! Krishna says, “They will also be nagging you in Heaven.” This means that in the next life, it will be worse.
Bhagavad Gita
