क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते। क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप॥
klaibyaṃ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitat tvayy upapadyate / kṣudraṃ hṛdaya-daurbalyaṃ tyaktvottiṣṭha parantapa
Cast off this petty weakness of heart — rise. This is not who you are.
Word by word (6)
- klaibyam mā sma gamaḥ
- — do not yield to unmanliness / do not fall into weakness · 'Klaibyam' — literally, the state of being without virility. A strong, even harsh term in the warrior context. Krishna is using the language of martial honor to rouse Arjuna.
- pārtha
- — O Partha — son of Pritha (Arjuna's mother Kunti's name)
- na etat tvayy upapadyate
- — this does not befit you / this is not appropriate for you
- kṣudram hṛdaya-daurbalyam
- — the petty weakness of heart / this small-hearted faintheartedness · 'Kṣudra' — small, petty, mean. 'Hṛdaya-daurbalyam' — weakness of heart. Krishna is saying: your heart is capable of more than this. This weakness is beneath your heart's actual size.
- tyaktvā uttiṣṭha
- — having abandoned it, rise up / cast it off and stand
- parantapa
- — O Parantapa — Scorcher of Enemies (Arjuna's battle-epithet)
'Do not yield to this unmanliness, O Partha — it does not befit you. Cast off this petty weakness of heart. Rise up, O Parantapa!'
A modern analogy
A coach, a mentor, or a great friend who refuses to accept your collapse as final: 'This is not who you are. Get up.' Not denial of the pain — but insistence on the person beneath the pain. Krishna uses Arjuna's battle-epithet: 'Parantapa' (Scorcher of Enemies). He is reminding Arjuna of what he is at his best.
Take with you
- 'Tyaktvā uttiṣṭha' — having abandoned it, rise. The sequence matters: let go of the weakness, then act.
- Krishna calls it 'kṣudram' (petty, small) — not to insult but to accurately size the obstruction: it is smaller than Arjuna.
- Calling Arjuna 'Parantapa' (Scorcher of Enemies) while he is weeping is an act of vision: seeing the person's capacity, not just their current state.
Verse 3 is Krishna's most direct challenge in the opening exchange. He escalates from diagnosis (V2: 'from where has this come?') to instruction: 'abandon this and rise.' Three things are named: klaibyam (unmanliness/weakness), kṣudram hṛdaya-daurbalyam (petty weakness of heart), and the implied contrast with Parantapa (the scorcher, the powerful, the warrior). This is pedagogically precise. Krishna knows that Arjuna's self-image includes both his role-identity (warrior) and his self-conception as noble (ārya). By labeling the weakness as 'kṣudra' (petty) and contrasting it with 'parantapa' (his highest epithet), Krishna is creating cognitive dissonance between who Arjuna is acting like and who Arjuna knows himself to be. That dissonance is motivating.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Yield not to impotence, O Arjuna; it does not befit thee. Cast off this faint-heartedness and arise, O Parantapa! [4]
Yield not to unmanliness, O son of Pritha: it does not become thee. Shake off thy faint-heartedness and arise. [6]
Yield not to impotence, O Pritha's Son! It is unworthy of thee! Quit thy faint heart! Arise! O thou that burnest enemies! [7]
Yield not to impotence, O son of Pritha; it does not befit thee. Shaking off this faint-heartedness, arise, O destroyer of enemies. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
I am your student. My mind is bewildered about what is right. Teach me.
Arise and win glory! These warriors are already slain by Me — be merely the instrument, O Savyasācin!
Three gates to hell, destructive of the self: kāma, krodha, lobha. Therefore abandon this triad.
Duryodhana catalogues the Pandava heroes — naming his fears, one by one.
Duryodhana lists his greatest champions — and every name carries its own tragic irony.
A grandfather blows his conch to lift a grandson's spirits — love and war entangled.