Shloka 52
अर्जुनार्जुन बीभत्सो न न्यस्यं गाण्डिवं त्वया । शशाड्कस्येव ते पड़को नैर्मल्यं पातयिष्यति,“अर्जुन! अर्जुन! वीभत्सो! कहीं तुम भी न अपने गाण्डीव धनुषको नीचे डाल देना; नहीं तो तुममें भी चन्द्रमाके समान कलंक लग जायगा और वह तुम्हारी निर्मलताको नष्ट कर देगा”
arjunārjuna bībhatsa na nyasyaṃ gāṇḍīvaṃ tvayā | śaśāṅkasyeva te paṅko nairmalyaṃ pātayiṣyati ||
Sañjaya said: “Arjuna—Arjuna! O Bībhatsa! Do not let your Gāṇḍīva bow fall from your hands. If you lay it down, a stain will cling to you like the blemish upon the moon, and that blot will cast down your purity—your hard-won moral clarity and warrior-honour.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
A kṣatriya must not abandon rightful action out of despair; laying down one’s weapon here symbolizes surrendering dharma and courage. Such withdrawal brings ‘stain’—loss of honour and inner purity—like the moon’s visible blemish.
Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events, urgently exhorts Arjuna not to drop the Gāṇḍīva. The line frames any wavering as a public and inner disgrace that would tarnish Arjuna’s famed stainless reputation.