Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 33
अथ चैत्त्वमिमं धर्म्यं संग्रामं न करिष्यसि।
ततः स्वधर्मं कीर्तिं च हित्वा पापमवाप्स्यसि।।
ततः स्वधर्मं कीर्तिं च हित्वा पापमवाप्स्यसि।।
atha cet tvam imaṁ dharmyaṁ saṅgrāmaṁ na kariṣyasi
tataḥ sva-dharmaṁ kīrtiṁ ca hitvā pāpam avāpsyasi
also searched as "atha chet tvam imam dharmyam sangramam na karishyasi"
Translation
But if you do not fight this righteous war, you will be turning away from your duty and honor, and will incur sin.
Vāṇi's rendering
But refuse this righteous fight, and you throw away your dharma and your honour — and gather sin.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अथatha | but now, on the other hand |
| चेत्cet | if |
| त्वम्tvam | you |
| इमम्imam | this |
| धर्म्यम्dharmyam | rightful, in keeping with dharma |
| संग्रामम्saṅgrāmam | battle, the fight before you |
| नna | not |
| करिष्यसिkariṣyasi | you will do, you will wage |
| ततःtataḥ | then, as a result |
| स्वधर्मम्sva-dharmam | your own dharma, the work that is yours |
| कीर्तिम्kīrtim | honour, the good name you carry |
| चca | and |
| हित्वाhitvā | having thrown away, having let fall |
| पापम्pāpam | sin, the weight of wrongdoing (sandhi: pāpam + avāpsyasi) |
| अवाप्स्यसिavāpsyasi | you will come to have, you will gather |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 33 mean?
It means that stepping back is not neutral. Krishna tells Arjuna that if he refuses the rightful fight, he loses his sva-dharma and his honour, and still gathers pāpa. The refusal has its own account. Inaction is not a way of staying clean; it is simply a different choice, with its own price.
What does 'atha chet tvam imam dharmyam sangramam na karishyasi' teach?
That the cost of not acting must be counted alongside the cost of acting. Arjuna has weighed only one side of the scale. Krishna sets the other side down: dharma abandoned, name abandoned, and wrongdoing incurred all the same. Both roads have weight. Choose knowing this, not while imagining one road is free.
Is Krishna saying refusing to fight is a sin?
He is saying that abandoning what is genuinely yours to do is. The word is dharmyam — this particular fight, in Arjuna's particular life, at this hour. Krishna is not blessing violence in general. He is refusing to let Arjuna dress desertion up as virtue.
How does this verse apply when I am avoiding something difficult?
Notice what your avoidance is costing while you tell yourself it costs nothing. The hard conversation not had, the responsibility set down quietly — these do not disappear because you looked away. They keep accruing. Krishna's point is simply that you are already paying. Better to pay for something you chose.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has argued that the soul is deathless, then that the fight is Arjuna's own work. Now he turns the ledger over. Refusal is also an act, and it has consequences. Arjuna imagines withdrawal as clean — no blood on his hands. Krishna shows him the cost he has not counted: dharma dropped, name dropped, and sin gathered anyway. There is no exit from action into innocence. Standing still on a field where you are needed is a choice like any other, and it is answerable. The work you walk away from does not vanish. It waits, with your name on it.