A core teaching · grounding in mood · easy to enter
“Avoiding the right duty does not protect you; it stains you.”
If you do not fight this righteous war, you will abandon your duty and honor and incur blame.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallythen · and · this · you · this · righteous · war · not · will do · then · one's own duty · honor · and · having abandoned · you will obtain
Refusing a just battle would mean abandoning your duty and honor, and that choice would bring blame.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Sankhya Yoga" (The Yoga of Knowledge).
Verse 33 sits in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita — Sankhya Yoga, "The Yoga of Knowledge". The chapter has 72 verses in total.
A witness who backs out of testifying in a fraud case after promising to leaves the case weaker and his own name in question. Krishna warns Arjuna that walking away from a righteous fight costs him duty and honour.
Did you like this verse?
Refusing this righteous war, Krishna warns, means giving up both duty and honour and taking on blame.
What this verse means
Refusing a just battle would mean abandoning your duty and honor, and that choice would bring blame.
Context & commentary
After saying this battle is righteous, Krishna warns that refusing it would mean abandoning the role Arjuna was born to carry.
What it looks like today
A witness who backs out of testifying in a fraud case after promising to leaves the case weaker and his own name in question. Krishna warns Arjuna that walking away from a righteous fight costs him duty and honour.
“Avoiding the hard right thing can feel safer, but it leaves a heavier mark than action.”
Explore related themes: kurukshetra (95 verses)