2.37

Sanskrit

हतो वा प्राप्स्यसि स्वर्गं जित्वा वा भोक्ष्यसे महीम् । तस्मादुत्तिष्ठ कौन्तेय युद्धाय कृतनिश्चयः ॥

hato vā prāpsyasi svargaṃ jitvā vā bhokṣyase mahīm tasmād uttiṣṭha kaunteya yuddhāya kṛtaniścayaḥ

Translation

Slain, thou wilt obtain heaven; victorious, thou wilt enjoy the earth; therefore stand up, O son of Kuntî, resolute to fight.

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

Explanation

Having listed what’s lost by not fighting (32–36), Krishna closes this argument track with what’s gained either way by fighting: heaven if slain, the earth if victorious. Read alongside verse 38’s very next line, though, this isn’t the chapter’s final word — it’s the last rung of the consequentialist ladder before Krishna immediately relativizes outcomes altogether (“taking as equal pleasure and pain, gain and loss”).