Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 3
क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते।
क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप।।
क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप।।
klaibyaṁ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitat tvayyupapadyate
kṣudraṁ hṛdaya-daurbalyaṁ tyaktvottiṣṭha parantapa
also searched as "klaibyam ma sma gamah partha naitat tvayyupapadyate"
Translation
Do not yield to unmanliness, O Arjuna, it does not befit you. Shake off this base faint-heartedness and arise, O conqueror of foes!
Vāṇi's rendering
Do not surrender to cowardice — it is not who you are. Shake off this small weakness. Stand.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| क्लैब्यंklaibyaṁ | loss of nerve, unmanly weakness |
| माmā | do not |
| स्मsma | (with mā, a firm prohibition — never) |
| गमःgamaḥ | go into, fall into |
| पार्थpārtha | O son of Pṛthā, Arjuna |
| नna | not |
| एतत्etat | this (joined as naitat by sandhi) |
| त्वयिtvayi | in you (joined as tvayyupapadyate by sandhi) |
| उपपद्यतेupapadyate | fits, befits, belongs |
| क्षुद्रंkṣudraṁ | petty, small, mean |
| हृदय-दौर्बल्यंhṛdaya-daurbalyaṁ | weakness of heart |
| त्यक्त्वाtyaktvā | having cast off (joined as tyaktvottiṣṭha by sandhi) |
| उत्तिष्ठuttiṣṭha | stand up |
| परन्तपparantapa | O scorcher of enemies |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 3 mean?
It is Krishna's first correction. Arjuna has collapsed with reasons; Krishna calls the collapse by its real name — klaibya, a loss of nerve — and refuses to treat it as wisdom. He names the weakness small, says it does not belong in Arjuna, and ends with a single command: uttiṣṭha, stand.
What does klaibyam ma sma gamah partha mean in English?
Do not go into cowardice, son of Pṛthā. The prohibition is emphatic — mā sma is stronger than a suggestion. Krishna is not asking Arjuna to feel differently. He is telling him not to move in that direction, not to let the trembling become the decision.
Why does Krishna call Arjuna's despair small?
Because kṣudra measures the weakness against the man, not against morality. Arjuna's grief is real; his reasoning is elaborate. But the thing at the root of it is a faintness of heart, and Krishna will not let something that small decide something that large. Size, not sin, is the charge.
How do I apply Bhagavad Gita 2.3 when I feel paralysed?
Stop arguing with the reasons you have given yourself. They may all be true and still not be the cause. Look underneath for the flinch, name it plainly, and then do the one physical thing this verse asks — stand up. The clarity tends to arrive after the standing, not before it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna's first words to Arjuna are not comfort; they are a refusal. Arjuna has laid down his bow with elaborate reasons — grief for teachers, horror at kinsmen slain — and Krishna does not answer the reasons. He answers the trembling underneath them. Klaibya: the failure of nerve that dresses itself as conscience. Notice his word for it — small. Not evil, not unforgivable. Small, and beneath the size of the man standing there. He does not say the fear is unreal. He says it is not you. Then one word, with no argument left in it: stand. Whatever has you sitting down today is smaller than you are.