उत्सीदेयुरिमे लोका न कुर्यां कर्म चेदहम् ।सङ्करस्य च कर्ता स्यामुपहन्यामिमाः प्रजाः ॥
utsīdeyur ime lokā na kuryāṃ karma ced aham |saṅkarasya ca kartā syām upahanyām imāḥ prajāḥ ||
- उत्सीदेयुः · utsīdeyuḥ
- would perish, fall to ruin
- इमे · ime
- these
- लोकाः · lokāḥ
- worlds, peoples
- न · na
- not
- कुर्याम् · kuryām
- should do
- कर्म · karma
- action
- चेत् · cet
- if
- अहम् · aham
- I
- सङ्करस्य · saṅkarasya
- of confusion, disorder
- च · ca
- and
- कर्ता · kartā
- author, maker
- स्याम् · syām
- I would be
- उपहन्याम् · upahanyām
- I would destroy
- इमाः · imāḥ
- these
- प्रजाः · prajāḥ
- creatures, peoples
“These worlds would fall to ruin if I did no action. I would become the author of confusion and would destroy these creatures.”
— Original plain-language translation
Inaction at the top cascades into chaos below — social order (saṅkara echoes Arjuna's own fear in 1.41-43) collapses when leaders abdicate. Krishna turns Arjuna's worry back on him: the warrior's desertion would itself breed the ruin he dreads.
— Reader's notes (original)