Sanskrit
अकीर्तिं चापि भूतानि कथयिष्यन्ति तेऽव्ययाम् । सम्भावितस्य चाकीर्तिर्मरणादतिरिच्यते ॥
akīrtiṃ cāpi bhūtāni kathayiṣyanti te'vyayām sambhāvitasya cākīrtir maraṇād atiricyate
Translation
Men will recount thy perpetual dishonour, and, to one highly esteemed, dishonour exceedeth death.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The first of the social costs Krishna lists: reputation. For a man already held in high regard, as Arjuna is, disgrace isn’t a lesser evil than death — it’s described here as worse. This is a pragmatic argument aimed squarely at Arjuna’s own standing, not a metaphysical one.
Concepts