Verse 2.3

क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते ।

क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप ॥

2.3

Transliteration

klaibyaṃ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitattvayyupapadyate |

kṣudraṃ hṛdayadaurbalyaṃ tyaktvottiṣṭha parantapa ||

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · @indic-transliteration/sanscript 1.3.3

Translation

Yield not to impotence, O Arjuna, son of Pritha. It does not befit thee. Cast off this mean weakness of the heart! Stand up, O scorcher of the foes!

From the owner's sheet · +1 more

Word by word

unmanliness
do not
indeed
yield to
O Partha
not
this
in you
befits

petty
weakness of heart
casting off
arise
O scorcher of foes

By Sanskrit System · Machine draft · claude-opus-5-5 · 2026-11-08

Explanation

Krishna presses the point with a strong word, klaibya, unmanliness or impotence, and tells Arjuna it does not fit him. He calls the weakness kṣudra, small or petty, and names it a weakness of the heart rather than a failure of reason. The two epithets, son of Pritha and scorcher of foes, recall Arjuna's family and his record as a warrior. The verse ends with a command to stand up. Many readers note that Krishna begins with the language of courage before turning to the language of wisdom, meeting Arjuna first on the ground of his own identity.