A core teaching · grounding in mood · easy to enter
“Public shame can hurt more than physical danger.”
Your enemies will speak many unworthy words, mocking your strength. What could be more painful than that?
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyunworthy words · and · many · they will speak · your · enemies · mocking · your · strength · than that · more painful · indeed · what
Your enemies will mock your ability and say cruel things about you. For a respected person, that kind of public shame can feel worse than death.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Sankhya Yoga" (The Yoga of Knowledge).
Verse 36 sits in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita — Sankhya Yoga, "The Yoga of Knowledge". The chapter has 72 verses in total.
A shopkeeper who folds before a bully in the market will hear about it from every neighbouring stall for months. Krishna reminds Arjuna that his enemies would mock his strength in the same way.
Did you like this verse?
Krishna adds the taunts of enemies mocking Arjuna's strength, and asks what could hurt more than that.
What this verse means
Your enemies will mock your ability and say cruel things about you. For a respected person, that kind of public shame can feel worse than death.
Context & commentary
After warning Arjuna about disgrace, Krishna adds that enemies will ridicule his strength itself. The verse deepens Arjuna's fear of public humiliation.
What it looks like today
A shopkeeper who folds before a bully in the market will hear about it from every neighbouring stall for months. Krishna reminds Arjuna that his enemies would mock his strength in the same way.
“Shame can sting harder than pain when your identity is on the line.”