A core teaching · inspiring in mood · easy to enter
“Act now; the result does not cancel the duty.”
If you are killed, you will attain heaven; if you win, you will enjoy the kingdom. Therefore, rise, Kaunteya, and fight with resolve.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallykilled · or · you will attain · heaven · having won · or · you will enjoy · the earth · therefore · rise · Kaunteya · for battle · with firm resolve
Arjuna is told to stand up and fight without wavering. Whether he wins or dies, he must do what stands before him now.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Sankhya Yoga" (The Yoga of Knowledge).
Verse 37 sits in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita — Sankhya Yoga, "The Yoga of Knowledge". The chapter has 72 verses in total.
A farmer deciding whether to sow before an uncertain monsoon may lose either way by waiting. Krishna lays out both outcomes for Arjuna, death with heaven or victory with the kingdom, and tells him to rise.
Did you like this verse?
Die and win heaven, win and enjoy the kingdom: Krishna tells Kaunteya to rise and fight.
What this verse means
Arjuna is told to stand up and fight without wavering. Whether he wins or dies, he must do what stands before him now.
Context & commentary
Krishna answers his fear by framing battle as unavoidable duty: death brings one result, victory another, but action itself must still happen.
What it looks like today
A farmer deciding whether to sow before an uncertain monsoon may lose either way by waiting. Krishna lays out both outcomes for Arjuna, death with heaven or victory with the kingdom, and tells him to rise.
“Courage grows when the outcome stops being the reason to act.”
Explore related themes: kurukshetra (95 verses)