1.45
यदि मामप्रतीकारमशस्त्रं शस्त्रपाणयः | धार्तराष्ट्रा रणे हन्युस्तन्मे क्षेमतरं भवेत् ||४५||
yadi mām apratīkāram aśhastraṁ śhastra-pāṇayaḥ dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe hanyus tan me kṣhemataraṁ bhavet
Translation
It would be better for me if the sons of Dhritarashtra, weapons in hand, were to slay me unarmed and unresisting on the battlefield.
Interpretation
Arjuna reaches the nadir of his crisis: passive death is preferable to active killing. This is not courage — Krishna will call it weakness disguised as virtue ('anārya-juṣṭam' in verse 2.2). Genuine strength sometimes requires the willingness to act in the face of anguish.