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 ||
- हतः · hataḥ
- slain
- वा · vā
- or
- प्राप्स्यसि · prāpsyasi
- you will attain
- स्वर्गम् · svargam
- heaven
- जित्वा · jitvā
- having conquered
- वा · vā
- or
- भोक्ष्यसे · bhokṣyase
- you will enjoy
- महीम् · mahīm
- the earth
- तस्मात् · tasmāt
- therefore
- उत्तिष्ठ · uttiṣṭha
- stand up, arise
- कौन्तेय · kaunteya
- O son of Kunti (Arjuna)
- युद्धाय · yuddhāya
- for battle
- कृतनिश्चयः · kṛtaniścayaḥ
- resolved, decided
“Slain, you will attain heaven; victorious, you will enjoy the earth. Therefore arise, O son of Kunti, resolved on battle.”
— Original plain-language translation
The win-win wager: death or victory, heaven or earth — defeat has no place in the equation. It is stirring rhetoric, though the deeper teaching (2.38) immediately relativizes these very prizes. Krishna spends worldly motives to get Arjuna standing, then transcends them.
— Reader's notes (original)