akeertim chaapi bhootani kathayishyanti teavyayaam |
sambhaavitasya chaakeertirmarnaadatirichyate || 34 ||

bhayaadranaaduparatam mansyante tvaam mahaarathahaa |
yeshaam cha tvam bahumato bhootvaa yaasyasi laaghavam || 35 ||

avaachyavaadaamshcha bahoonvadishyanti tavaahitaaha |
nindantastava saamarthyam tato duhkhataram nu kim || 36 ||

Moreover, everyone will also speak about your infamy forever. This will be a great sorrow, worse even than death, for an honourable person.


Great warriors will believe that you disengaged from the war due to cowardice. Even though they once regarded you highly, they will now look down upon you.

Your enemies will say many unspeakable things about you. They will condemn your prowess. What could be a greater sorrow than this?

akeertim : infamy
cha : and
api : also
bhootani : everybody
kathayishyanti : speak about
te : you
avyayaam : forever
sambhavitasya : honourable person
cha : also
akeertim : infamy
marnaat : than death
atirichyate : greater sorrow

bhayaat : due to fear
rinaat : of war
uparatam : disengaged
mansyante : believe
tvaam : you
maharataaha : great warriors
yeshaam : in whose
cha : and
tvam : you
bahumataha : highly regarded
bhootvaa : were
laaghavam : fall short
yaasyasi : obtain

avaachyavaadaan : unspeakable words
cha : also
bahoon : many
vadishyanti : will speak
tava : your
ahitaaha : enemies
nindantaha : will condemn
saamarthyam : prowess
tataha : of that
duhkhataram : greater sorrow
nu kim : what will

Aristotle said that to make an argument forceful, convincing and persuasive, one has to incorporate three elements: ethos, logos and pathos, or in other words, emotion, logic and the reputation of the speaker. After having using logic in his teaching, Shri Krishna uses a call to emotion as a tool of persuasion.

For a great warrior like Arjuna, reputation was everything. Therefore, Shri Krishna advised Arjuna to remember his svadharma, his duty and fight, or else he would lose his reputation as a mighty warrior.

We can learn so much from the way Shri Krishna builds and delivers his arguments to Arjuna, not just from the teaching itself. Whenever we have to make a presentation at work, or want to convince our spouse or our parents of something that is important to us, it is always better to a mix of logic and emotion in our arguments rather than just chose one or the other.