2.3

Sanskrit

क्लैव्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते । क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप ॥

klaibyaṃ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitat tvayy upapadyate kṣudraṃ hṛdayadaurbalyaṃ tyaktvottiṣṭha parantapa

Translation

Yield not to impotence, O Partha! it doth not befit thee. Shake off this paltry faint-heartedness! Stand up, Parantapa!

Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain

Explanation

The rebuke sharpens into a direct command: stand up. “Klaibya” (rendered “impotence” here) is unsparing — Krishna is naming Arjuna’s collapse as unmanliness, not sensitivity. Nothing philosophical has been offered yet; this is a warrior being called back to himself before the argument even starts.