Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 1, Verse 46
यदि मामप्रतीकारमशस्त्रं शस्त्रपाणयः।
धार्तराष्ट्रा रणे हन्युस्तन्मे क्षेमतरं भवेत्।।
धार्तराष्ट्रा रणे हन्युस्तन्मे क्षेमतरं भवेत्।।
yadi mām apratīkāram aśastraṁ śastra-pāṇayaḥ
dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe hanyus tan me kṣemataraṁ bhavet
also searched as "yadi mam apratikaram ashastram shastrapanayah"
Translation
If the well-armed sons of Dhrtarastra should slay me in battle, unresisting and unarmed, that would be better for me.
Vāṇi's rendering
Better that Dhritarashtra's armed sons cut me down in battle — unarmed, unresisting.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यदिyadi | if |
| माम्mām | me |
| अप्रतीकारम्apratīkāram | offering no resistance, striking nothing back |
| अशस्त्रम्aśastram | without a weapon in hand |
| शस्त्रपाणयःśastra-pāṇayaḥ | with weapons in their hands |
| धार्तराष्ट्राःdhārtarāṣṭrāḥ | the sons of Dhritarashtra |
| रणेraṇe | in the battle |
| हन्युःhanyuḥ | were to kill; sandhi: hanyuḥ + tat becomes hanyus tat |
| तत्tat | that |
| मेme | for me |
| क्षेमतरम्kṣemataram | safer, more of a relief |
| भवेत्bhavet | would be |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 Verse 46 mean?
It is Arjuna's last word before he collapses. He says it would be safer — kṣemataram — to be cut down unarmed by Dhritarashtra's sons than to fight them. He is not choosing peace. He is choosing to be the one killed rather than the one who kills, so the guilt lands elsewhere.
What does yadi mam apratikaram ashastram shastrapanayah teach about non-violence?
Less than it seems. Arjuna's unarmedness here is despair wearing the clothes of restraint. Real ahiṁsā is a steadiness one enters; this is a man wanting the field cleared of his own responsibility. Krishna spends the next chapters showing him the difference between letting go and running out.
Why does Arjuna say death would be better for him?
Because every outcome he can picture is unbearable, and death is the only one where he does no harm. Grief narrows the future until dying looks like the clean option. Krishna does not argue that the pain is small. He widens the picture Arjuna is standing inside.
Is wanting to give up ever the right response to conflict?
Ask what the giving up is protecting. If it protects others, it may be dharma. If it mainly protects your own sense of being innocent, it is Arjuna's bargain. The Gītā never shames the impulse — it simply refuses to let you leave the field with your name unmarked.
Themes in this verse
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Commentary
Arjuna has run out of arguments, so he offers his own throat. Notice the shape of it — not surrender, not peace, but a wish to be killed while blameless. If he drops the bow, the killing becomes theirs alone and his hands stay clean. That is what kṣemataram means here: better for me. Grief has turned into a bargain. You know this move — the withdrawal that looks like nonviolence and is really a way of keeping your record unspotted while the field decides without you. Krishna will not accept it. Look at the place where you have laid down the bow and called it peace.