Devanagari
अकीर्तिं चापि भूतानि कथयिष्यन्ति तेऽव्ययाम् ।
सम्भावितस्य चाकीर्तिर्मरणादतिरिच्यते ॥ ३४ ॥
Verse text
akīrtiṁ cāpi bhūtāni
kathayiṣyanti te ’vyayām
sambhāvitasya cākīrtir
maraṇād atiricyate
Synonyms
akīrtim
—
infamy
;
ca
—
also
;
api
—
over and above
;
bhūtāni
—
all people
;
kathayiṣyanti
—
will speak
;
te
—
of you
;
avyayām
—
forever
;
sambhāvitasya
—
for a respectable man
;
ca
—
also
;
akīrtiḥ
—
ill fame
;
maraṇāt
—
than death
;
atiricyate
—
becomes more.
Translation
People will always speak of your infamy, and for a respectable person, dishonor is worse than death.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
34. They will speak incessantly of your infamy. For one who has great position, dishonor is worse than death.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
34. They will speak incessantly of your infamy. For one who has great position, dishonor is worse than death.
Purport
Both as friend and philosopher to Arjuna, Lord Kṛṣṇa now gives His final judgment regarding Arjuna’s refusal to fight. The Lord says, “Arjuna, if you leave the battlefield before the battle even begins, people will call you a coward. And if you think that people may call you bad names but that you will save your life by fleeing the battlefield, then My advice is that you’d do better to die in the battle. For a respectable man like you, ill fame is worse than death. So, you should not flee for fear of your life; better to die in the battle. That will save you from the ill fame of misusing My friendship and from losing your prestige in society.”
So, the final judgment of the Lord was for Arjuna to die in the battle and not withdraw.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Avayayam means “continually.” Sambhāvitasya means “of great position.”
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
“Not only do you destroy your duty but you also completely destroy your fame. All the people will talk of your eternal infamy in fleeing at the commencement of the battle.”
“But from fear of death, I could tolerate the infamy. [Note: This argument of Arjuna would be hypothetical, since he does not have such fear. However, since the outcome of battle, and whether one lives of dies is uncertain, Manu recommends that one should try to avoid war as much as possible.]”
“No, death is preferable (atiricyate) to infamy for one who has attained such a high position (sambhāvitasya).”
Surrender Unto Me
Srila Prabhupada explains in his Purport:" Both as friend and philosopher to Arjuna, Lord Krsna now gives His final judgment regarding Arjuna's refusal to fight. The Lord says, ``Arjuna, if you leave the battlefield before the battle even begins, people will call you a coward. And if you think that people may call you bad names but that you will save your life by fleeing the battlefield, then My advice is that you better to die in the battle. For a respectable man like you, ill fame is worse than death. So, you should not flee for fear of your life; better to die in the battle. That will save you from the ill fame of misusing My friendship and from losing prestige in society.''
So, the final judgment of the Lord was for Arjuna to die in the battle and not withdraw."
For a respectable person the pain of infamy is worse than the pain of death.