This summary is about seven verses of the Gita (Gita 2.31–37), and about the turn that comes in verse (Gita 2.38).

On Arjuna's journey this comes after The Imperishable Self. There the answer to grief was given through understanding of the self. Here the answer is to the fear of duty and public blame. Further on come One's Own Duty (Gita 3.35) and buddhi yoga, that is, evenness and yoga.

The question is this: to know one's duty and still stop for fear of "what will people say". After teaching the self, why does the Lord suddenly speak of duty and fame and disgrace?

The answer in one sentence

The Lord speaks to Arjuna on his own ground, because he cares about his duty and his name (Gita 2.31–37). But this is the first word, not the last. In the very next verse the ground changes: be even in pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat (Gita 2.38), and then the fear of disgrace loses its hold.

A caution is needed too. These verses are to a warrior, about a war that came before him unasked. Do not read them as a general support for war, and honour is not the highest value of the Gita.

The setting

In the first chapter Arjuna puts down his bow in compassion (Gita 1.28) and says that killing these people would bring only sin (Gita 1.36). In the Lord's first words too, disgrace appeared: this delusion brings disgrace (Gita 2.2).

Then comes the teaching of the self, and after it this other language. The word "also" shows the link: what was said of the self stands, and seeing your own duty too you should not waver.

The seven verses

Verse 2.31 says: seeing your own duty, do not waver, for a warrior has no greater good than a war in line with dharma. Here Arjuna is meant to feel that he is stepping away from his place.

Verse 2.32 says: this war has come unasked, an opportunity that only the fortunate get. Here Arjuna is meant to feel that this hour has been sent.

Verse 2.33 says: if you do not fight, you will lose your duty and fame and incur sin. Here Arjuna is meant to feel that his effort to avoid sin is turning against him.

Verse 2.34 says: disgrace will last long, and for the honoured, disgrace is heavier than death.

Verse 2.35 says: the great warriors will think you left from fear, and you will become small in the eyes of those who held you high. Here Arjuna is meant to feel that his mind will be misread.

Verse 2.36 says: your enemies will slander your strength and say unspeakable things. What grief is greater than that.

Verse 2.37 says: if killed, you reach heaven, and if victorious, you enjoy the earth. Rise with firm resolve. Here no reason to stop is left.

A few separate points are worth noting. Verse 2.31 names the warrior. It does not say that war is good for everyone (Gita 2.31). Verse 2.32 says the opportunity "came", Arjuna did not seek it (Gita 2.32). In verse 2.33, Arjuna's fear was of sin, and the Lord turns that same fear around: sin can lie in not fighting too (Gita 2.33). In verses 2.34 and 2.35 the matter is what people will read. Arjuna held his hands in compassion, but others will call it fear (Gita 2.34–35). And in verse 2.37 something is gained on both sides, so there is no reason to stop (Gita 2.37).

Two fears together

Two fears are together here. The first is the fear of doing wrong, as in verse 1.36, where only sin would come to hand (Gita 1.36). The second is the fear of being misunderstood, as in verse 2.35, where others will take his stepping back as fear (Gita 2.35).

The cure for the two is not the same.

The answer to the first fear is that the measure for judging sin must change. Sin is decided neither by the fruit nor by people's opinion. Action done with evenness does not incur sin (Gita 2.38).

The answer to the second fear is that the pleasure and pain that come from what people say are passing contacts. One can learn to bear them (Gita 2.14).

A working test is this: am I afraid of doing wrong, or of looking wrong? With the answer, the road changes.

Why this is the first word and not the last

Verse 2.38 says: treating pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat alike, get ready for the fight. Doing so, you will incur no sin. Now the basis of duty is not the fruit but an even mind (Gita 2.38).

Verse 2.39 says that so far it has been told in the light of sankhya, now hear it in the light of yoga. And verses 2.42 and 2.43 call the talk of those who hold heaven as the highest aim incomplete (Gita 2.39, Gita 2.42–43). So the heaven and fame of the seven verses are not the final aim.

The Gita's firm note on honour and dishonour is this: one who is even in honour and dishonour is dear to the Lord (Gita 12.18–19), and one beyond the qualities stays the same in honour and dishonour (Gita 14.25).

The argument holds only when the act is right

Verses 2.31 and 2.33 call the war "in line with dharma" (Gita 2.31, Gita 2.33). The whole argument about duty and name rests on the condition that the act is right in itself. The fear of disgrace cannot push anyone towards a wrong act. To join in a wrong act on hearing the taunt "he is a coward" is not what these verses mean.

The sting of a taunt will still be there. There an even mind is needed: learning to bear it, but not changing one's stand out of fear of it (Gita 2.14).

There is also a better reason for caring about one's name. Others take up the conduct of the best (Gita 3.21). To keep conduct clean not for one's own name but for its effect on others is acceptable to the Gita.

Four common misunderstandings

The first misunderstanding is that the Gita says war is the greatest good. That is not so. The verse names the warrior (Gita 2.31), the war came unasked (Gita 2.32), and non-violence is a divine quality (Gita 16.2).

The second is that honour is the highest value of the Gita. That is not so. Evenness in honour and dishonour is the ideal (Gita 14.25).

The third is: do your duty, out of fear of people. That is not so. The Lord does not make fear the basis. In the very next verse He changes the basis (Gita 2.38).

The fourth is that this is all the Gita says on duty. That is not so. A broader principle comes later: one's own duty, even if imperfect, is better than another's duty done well (Gita 3.35, Gita 18.47). A piece on this is One's Own Duty.

Questions people ask

Is caring about reputation wrong? No. The Lord Himself begins from that very care (Gita 2.34). The mistake comes when the care becomes the basis of the action. The steady note is to be even in honour and dishonour (Gita 12.18–19).

What if duty hurts someone? These verses do not give a general answer. They are for one warrior and one occasion (Gita 2.31–32), and non-violence is a divine quality (Gita 16.2). Where duty and harm stand face to face, the Gita asks for a decision made with an even mind, letting go of the grip on the fruit (Gita 2.38).

Why does the Lord promise heaven? It is speaking in Arjuna's language. Further on the Gita holds one back from desire for fruit, and calls the talk of those who take heaven as the highest aim incomplete (Gita 2.42–43). It is a matter of the first step, not the last.

Is this only for warriors? The seven verses are for that situation (Gita 2.31), but the principle of one's own duty is wider (Gita 3.35).

How do I tell duty from fear of people? By the test of an even mind. If blame and praise came equally, would I still do this? If yes, it is duty. If no, then fear has a share in it (Gita 2.38).

Explain it in thirty seconds

Arjuna knows his duty and yet fears "what will people say". After teaching the self, the Lord speaks to him in his own language. The opportunity came unasked, if you do not fight, duty and fame will go and sin will come, people will call it fear, enemies will laugh, and there is a fruit on both sides (Gita 2.31–37). But this is the first word, not the last. In the next verse the basis changes: be even in pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat (Gita 2.38). So first do what is yours, and then learn to hear blame and praise alike. The condition goes with it that the act is itself in line with dharma.