Bhagavad Gita 2.34
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 34 of 72
अकीर्तिं चापि भूतानि कथयिष्यन्ति तेऽव्ययाम्। सम्भावितस्य चाकीर्तिर्मरणादतिरिच्यते॥
akīrtiṃ cāpi bhūtāni kathayiṣyanti te 'vyayām / sambhāvitasya cākīrtir maraṇād atiricyate
Dishonor lasts longer than death — and for the one who has been honored, disgrace is worse than dying.
Word by word (4)
- akīrtiṃ cāpi bhūtāni
- — and people will speak of your dishonor
- kathayiṣyanti te 'vyayām
- — forever / without end · 'Avyayām' — inexhaustible, permanent. Dishonor, unlike physical harm, lasts beyond the body.
- sambhāvitasya ca akīrtiḥ
- — and for one who has been honored, dishonor
- maraṇāt atiricyate
- — is worse than death · The teaching is calibrated to Arjuna specifically: for an honored warrior, reputation matters more than life. Krishna is meeting him where he is.
'And people will speak of your dishonor forever. For one who has been honored — disgrace is worse than death.'
A modern analogy
For someone whose entire identity and contribution has been built on excellence and integrity in their field — a deliberate public failure to act at the critical moment becomes the thing they're remembered for. The work of a lifetime is overshadowed. Krishna is being honest — with great compassion — about how reputation works in a world where dharmic conduct is the measure of a life.
Take with you
- The social consequence is real: 'akīrtim kathayiṣyanti' — people will speak of your dishonor.
- 'Sambhāvitasya' — for the one who has been held in esteem. The higher the position, the greater the cost of abandonment.
- This argument is deliberately aimed at Arjuna's warrior pride — it is meant to be heard by the part of him that cares about honor.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
People will speak of your dishonor forever; and to one who has been honored, dishonor is worse than death. [4]
People will speak forever of thy shame, and to the noble, shame is worse than death. [7]
And people will ever speak ill of you, and to one who has been in honor, ill fame is worse than death. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Those who respected you will assume you left out of fear — and in their eyes, you will shrink from hero to coward.
Taking refuge in Me for liberation from old age and death — they know Brahman, Adhyātma, and all of Karma.
Krishna declares: 'I am the ground of Brahman — the Immortal, the Immutable, eternal Dharma, and perfect Bliss.'
At the hour of death — mind fixed in yoga, devotion, prāṇa between the eyebrows — one attains the supreme divine Puruṣa.
I am the Goal, Lord, Witness, Abode, Refuge, Friend — and the Origin, Dissolution, Seed imperishable.
Quickly he becomes righteous and attains eternal peace — declare it, O Kuntī's son: My devotee is never destroyed.
Verse 34 of 72 · back to Chapter 2