What people will say

akīrtiṃ cāpi bhūtāni kathayiṣyanti te’avyayāmsambhāvitasya cākīrtirmaraṇādatiricyate

People will tell of your dishonour for all time. And for someone who was honoured, dishonour is worse than death.

What it means

Krishna adds a worldly argument. If you run, people will speak of it forever. For someone as respected as Arjuna, he says, that disgrace would be worse than dying. It's not the Gita's highest reason. It's Krishna speaking the language Arjuna's world understood.

The story

Krishna moves through arguments like a skilled friend. First the eternal Self, then duty, now reputation. He's trying every door into Arjuna's heart. Later, he'll ask Arjuna to act without caring for praise or blame at all.

In your life

Picture someone who almost quit a marathon at mile twenty, then thought of their kids waiting at the finish. Sometimes others' eyes help us keep going. Just don't let them become the only reason.