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अकीर्तिं चापि भूतानि कथयिष्यन्ति तेऽव्ययाम् |
सम्भावितस्य चाकीर्ति र्मरणादतिरिच्यते || 34||
Moreover, people will also speak about your infamy for all time, and for the respected person, infamy is worse even than death.
Reputation was, is, and will be everything for any respectable individual in society. We follow the rules, live our life in accordance with the preset values or norms, and almost every aspect of our life is governed by the constant effort to maintain a reputation amongst the members of our society. Because dishonor is considered worse than death and that fear somehow guides us in our daily actions.
Bhagwan Shri Krishna highlights this to the great warrior Arjuna when he refuses to perform his righteous duty due to the attachment with his family and friends.
Bhagwan Shri Krishna points out to Arjuna that by abandoning his Svadharma, his righteous duty, he would lose his reputation as a great warrior and people will forever mock him due to this inaction.
Arjuna should follow his duty as a true Kshatriya and fight this war, otherwise, the generations to come will only remember Arjuna as a coward who retreated from the battlefield and refused to fight the war.
To protect from this infamy, Arjuna should fight this war.
