Why Should Arjuna Care About Dishonor

By krishnasmercy on February 13, 2026 • ( 0 )

“People will always speak of your infamy, and for one who has been honored, dishonor is worse than death.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.34)

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अकीर्तिं चापि भूतानि
कथयिष्यन्ति ते ऽव्ययाम्
सम्भावितस्य चाकीर्तिर्
मरणाद् अतिरिच्यते

akīrtiṁ cāpi bhūtāni
kathayiṣyanti te ‘vyayām
sambhāvitasya cākīrtir
maraṇād atiricyate

“Bhagavad-gita is difficult to understand. It is not that if you come across it through your epic life quest of having conquered the mighty Mahabharata, with its absurd volume in page-length alone, you will somehow become enlightened. The teachings are timeless, but also from a long time ago. An ancient period of time, in fact. How will anyone from today understand the context? Even a direct translation of the Sanskrit words is insufficient for appropriately assimilating the principles into everyday life.

“Therefore, we require study. Constant study, at that, under the guidance of a teacher who has a link to the original culture. To that end, we know Bhagavad-gita is unique in how it rises above duality. More so than good and bad, doing this and not doing that, worrying about right and wrong in the temporary sense, through the instruction provided to the bow-warrior Arjuna, Krishna aims to enlighten the honest, the kind, and the open-minded into the ways of the universe and the place of the living being within it.

“We should rise above good and bad, in how we typically understand them, because of duality. The Sanskrit word is dvandva. The two endpoints within duality are attraction and aversion, like and dislike, extreme attachment and bitter hatred. We are overcome by this duality, in how the endpoints manifest. As Goswami Tulsidas describes, the duality is due to the illusion of Hari, who is God. Only Hari can remove that illusion.”

हरि माया कृत दोष गुन बिनु हरि भजन न जाहिं
भजिअ राम सब काम तजि अस बिचारि मन माहिं

hari māyā kṛta doṣa guna binu hari bhajana na jāhiṃ
bhajia rāma saba kāma taji asa bicāri mana māhiṃ

“Good and bad, which are part of the illusion created by Hari, cannot be removed without worshiping Hari. Keeping this in mind, worship Rama and renounce all desires.” (Dohavali, 127)

“No problem for Arjuna, as Hari was teaching Him. Krishna is the very same Hari. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Okay, so if Hari is removing the illusion of good and bad for Arjuna, why are there references to conditions which would appear to fall in duality? Let me explain.

“In one section, towards the beginning, Krishna essentially tries to scare Arjuna into doing the right thing. By giving up the fight, by abandoning the battlefield through a sudden show of misplaced compassion, Arjuna would incur dishonor. This is really bad, no pun intended, since Arjuna was previously honored.

“Now, I am not disagreeing with the characterization, which is something like a threat or warning. The issue I see is that Arjuna should not care about fame and infamy, honor and dishonor, praise and criticism, and the like. You know what I am saying? Why is Krishna leaning on a specific endpoint in duality to convince Arjuna to move forward? Why is this potential vision of dishonor important enough to bring up?”

This is why the spiritual master is so important. They are aware of the context. They can help the disciple with their particular problem. The teacher may say things which do not necessarily represent the full picture. They may lean on certain conditions and consequences as a way to tear down an argument brought forward by the disciple.

Indeed, to worship Krishna is to rise above duality. In that conversation, Krishna later explains how even the mode of goodness, sattva-guna, with its many rules, regulations, and rituals, can be binding. That mode keeps a person linked to the cycle of birth and death, even though they are supposedly advancing in their understanding of the world.

त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन
निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्यसत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान्

trai-guṇya-viṣayā vedā
nistrai-guṇyo bhavārjuna
nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho
niryoga-kṣema ātmavān

“The Vedas mainly deal with the subject of the three modes of material nature. Rise above these modes, O Arjuna. Be transcendental to all of them. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the Self.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.45)

At the same time, we have the Bhagavad-gita conversation precisely because of duality. Arjuna temporarily fell into illusion. He was considering good and bad in the temporary sense. His placement was actually misaligned. He was equating dharma with adharma. He was taking sinful activity to be pious. Krishna responded by setting the matter straight. Krishna could see that there was a hint of interest in public perception in Arjuna’s abrupt self-dismissal from the battlefield.

In other words, Arjuna thought that he would be honored for giving up the fight. People would praise him for his nobility, in not wanting to injure others. His own charioteer, who happened to also be his cousin, his friend, and now his guru, revealed that Arjuna’s choice would lead to infamy. People would not praise him. They would think he was fleeing the battlefield out of fear of losing. Arjuna would be considered the greatest coward.

In this way, Krishna saved Arjuna, the disciple, from peril on both sides. From the material point of view, Arjuna would be remembered as a brave warrior who forged ahead, to uphold dharma, carrying out his duty without fear. On the spiritual side, Arjuna would give tangible meaning to the promise of protection of devotion. Arjuna would give a picture to the life in surrender, which is always safeguarded by that same guru.