Krishna’s verbal slaps to Arjuna – The Gita’s second chapter begins with Arjuna in tears (02.01). Till this point, Arjuna has treated Krishna as a friend, not as a guide — he has stated his reservations about fighting and put aside his bow (01.46), but hasn’t asked Krishna for guidance. 

Sensing Arjuna’s frame of mind, Krishna responds as a friend: by exhorting Arjuna to give up his weakness of the heart (02.03). Here, Krishna uses two strong words: ‘klaibyam’ (impotence) and ‘kshudram’ (small-mindedness).

Both these describers are opposites of what Arjuna stands for: he is a powerful kshatriya, capable of taking adversities in his stride; he is not given to the small-mindedness that laments excessively over petty things. 

He is also the embodiment of virility. For him, being charged with impotence could have triggered dark memories. When the Pandavas had to live in incognito exile for one year, Arjuna had taken on the guise of a eunuch. He had resourcefully put to good use a celestial curse that sentenced him to temporary impotence. Still, living as a eunuch had been embarrassing for him. And when Duryodhana came to know about Arjuna’s guise, he had mocked Arjuna for having been a eunuch. Krishna’s word choice here could imply: “In playing the role of an impotent, have you actually become an impotent?”

By understanding  the context in which Arjuna hears these two words, we can appreciate their heaviness: they are like verbal slaps. Does Krishna think that Arjuna is small-minded or impotent? Not at all; he just wants to help Arjuna understand how the world will see his actions. By thus getting Arjuna out of his head, Krishna wants to impel Arjuna to do his duty. 

One-sentence summary:

Seeing that Arjuna is not yet ready for philosophical guidance, Krishna uses strong words to emotionally jolt Arjuna into sticking to his duty. 

Think it over:

  • At the start of the Gita’s second chapter, what is Arjuna’s mood? 
  • Why are Krishna’s words in Gita 02.03 like verbal slaps?
  • Why does Krishna use such strong words? 

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02.03: O son of Prutha, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.

Krishna’s verbal slaps to Arjuna

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