18.59 If you think I will not fight Krishna speaks
यदहङ्कारमाश्रित्य न योत्स्य इति मन्यसे
मिथ्यैष व्यवसायस्ते प्रकृतिस्त्वां नियोक्ष्यति
yad ahankāram āśhritya na yotsya iti manyase
mithyaiṣha vyavasāyas te prakṛitis tvāṁ niyokṣhyati
If, taking refuge in your own pride, you think “I will not fight”, your resolve is empty.
Explanation
If you think I will not fight.
na yotsye iti manyase — Krishna quotes Arjuna's own words from 2.9 back to him, seventeen chapters later.
Nothing else in the book does this. The sentence Arjuna said before falling silent is returned to him verbatim, and called empty.
Going further
Word by word
- yat
- if
- ahankāram
- motivated by pride
- āśhritya
- taking shelter
- na yotsye
- I shall not fight
- iti
- thus
- manyase
- you think
- mithyā eṣhaḥ
- this is all false
- vyavasāyaḥ
- determination
- te
- your
- prakṛitiḥ
- material nature
- tvām
- you
- niyokṣhyati
- will engage
Long-press or right-click the image to copy it. Nothing is uploaded — it is drawn here, on your device.
Na yotsye iti manyase — if you think “I will not fight”.
Krishna quotes Arjuna's words from 2.9 back to him, seventeen chapters later, and calls the resolve empty. The whole book is bracketed by this sentence: spoken by Arjuna in despair, returned to him as a diagnosis.