Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 36
अवाच्यवादांश्च बहून् वदिष्यन्ति तवाहिताः।
निन्दन्तस्तव सामर्थ्यं ततो दुःखतरं नु किम्।।
निन्दन्तस्तव सामर्थ्यं ततो दुःखतरं नु किम्।।
avācya-vādānś ca bahūn vadiṣyanti tavāhitāḥ
nindantastava sāmarthyaṁ tato duḥkhataraṁ nu kim
also searched as "avachya vadans cha bahun vadishyanti tavahitah"
Translation
Your enemies, slandering your prowess, will use words that should never be uttered. What could be more painful than that?
Vāṇi's rendering
Your enemies will mock your strength with words not worth repeating. What could hurt more than that?
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अवाच्यवादान्avācya-vādān | words that should never be said; unspeakable talk (appears as avācya-vādānś before ca) |
| चca | and |
| बहून्bahūn | many |
| वदिष्यन्तिvadiṣyanti | they will speak |
| तवtava | your (from tava + ahitāḥ = tavāhitāḥ) |
| अहिताःahitāḥ | those who wish you ill; enemies |
| निन्दन्तःnindantaḥ | mocking, running down (nindantas before tava) |
| तवtava | your |
| सामर्थ्यम्sāmarthyam | strength, capability |
| ततःtataḥ | than that (tato before duḥkhataram) |
| दुःखतरम्duḥkhataram | more painful |
| नुnu | indeed |
| किम्kim | what |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 36 mean?
Krishna tells Arjuna that if he walks away, his enemies will speak of him in words too crude to repeat, deriding the very strength he was famous for. He asks a question rather than making a claim: what could hurt more? The sting itself is the evidence Arjuna's refusal was never renunciation.
What does avachya vadans cha bahun vadishyanti tavahitah teach?
That contempt lands where argument cannot. Arjuna could answer every philosophical point Krishna made and still flinch at the thought of being laughed at. Krishna uses that flinch. It shows him — and you — where the real motive is hiding, underneath the reasonable-sounding case for stepping back.
Why does Krishna appeal to Arjuna's reputation instead of higher truth?
Because Arjuna is not yet standing in higher truth. Krishna meets him at the level where he actually lives, among warriors and their judgements, and works upward from there. A teaching that ignores where the student stands teaches nobody. The soul verses come first; this one makes them land.
Should I care what people say about me?
Krishna is not recommending that you live for approval — later chapters dismantle that entirely. He is using Arjuna's fear of mockery diagnostically. Ask what insult you could not endure. Whatever it is, some choice of yours is quietly being made to avoid it, and calling that choice wisdom.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna is arguing beneath Arjuna's argument. Arjuna has dressed his retreat in the language of mercy — better to beg than to kill. Krishna answers with the one thing a warrior cannot bear: the sound of enemies laughing. Not gods, not scripture, not the soul — enemies, and their unrepeatable words. It looks like a low blow. It is precision. He is showing Arjuna that the refusal was never mercy; it was fear wearing mercy's clothes, and the proof is how much the mockery stings. Notice what people could say about you that you could not survive. Your withdrawal is hiding there.