अवाच्यवादांश्च बहून्वदिष्यन्ति तवाहिताः ।निन्दन्तस्तव सामर्थ्यं ततो दुःखतरं नु किम् ॥
avācyavādāṃś ca bahūn vadiṣyanti tavāhitāḥ |nindantas tava sāmarthyaṃ tato duḥkhataraṃ nu kim ||
- अवाच्यवादान् · avācyavādān
- unspeakable words, vile talk
- च · ca
- and
- बहून् · bahūn
- many
- वदिष्यन्ति · vadiṣyanti
- will speak
- तव · tava
- your, of you
- अहिताः · ahitāḥ
- enemies, ill-wishers
- निन्दन्तः · nindantaḥ
- slandering, scorning
- तव · tava
- your
- सामर्थ्यम् · sāmarthyam
- prowess, capability
- ततः · tataḥ
- than that
- दुःखतरम् · duḥkhataram
- more painful
- नु · nu
- indeed (emphatic)
- किम् · kim
- what
“Your enemies will speak many vile words, scorning your prowess. What could be more painful than that?”
— Original plain-language translation
The honour-argument bottoms out in a rhetorical question — pain as persuasion. It is the least lofty of Krishna's arguments and the most human: he wants Arjuna to feel the future he is choosing.
— Reader's notes (original)