📿 Shloka Collection

Klaibyam Ma Sma Gamah

Gita 2.3 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 — Sankhya Yoga
क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते ।
क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप ॥
Klaibyam ma sma gamah Partha naitat tvayy upapadyate
Kshudram hridayadaurbalyam tyaktvottishtha Parantapa
क्लैब्यम्
cowardice, feebleness
मा स्म गमः
do not yield to
पार्थ
O Partha (son of Pritha/Kunti)
न एतत् त्वयि उपपद्यते
this does not befit you
क्षुद्रम्
petty, small
हृदयदौर्बल्यम्
feebleness of heart
त्यक्त्वा
casting aside
उत्तिष्ठ
stand up
परन्तप
O scorcher of foes

Do not yield to cowardice, Partha. It does not suit you. Cast aside this petty feebleness of heart and stand up, O scorcher of foes. Every word here is chosen to sting — not out of cruelty, but out of urgency. Krishna is speaking the way a father might speak to a son who has frozen at the edge of a swimming pool: You can do this. This hesitation is beneath you.

Krishna uses two names for Arjuna in the same breath. Partha — son of Kunti — reminds him of his mother's strength and lineage. Parantapa — scorcher of enemies — reminds him of his own proven power on the battlefield. The names themselves are the argument. You are not the person this behaviour belongs to.

The command 'uttishtha' — stand up — is among the most direct words in the Gita. No philosophy yet, no metaphysics. Just: get up. The teaching will come, but first, the student must be willing to rise.

According to the Bhagavad Gita, this is Krishna's direct call to action. The word 'klaibyam' does not mean merely physical cowardice — it refers to a paralysis of will, a collapse of resolve when faced with a difficult duty.

This shloka carries the seed of the Gita's entire message: do not abandon your duty out of emotional weakness, no matter how overwhelming the situation feels.

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