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Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.33
atha cet tvam imaṃ dharmyaṃ saṃgrāmaṃ na kariṣyasi | tataḥ sva-dharmaṃ kīrtiṃ ca hitvā pāpam avāpsyasi
Translation. But if you do not fight this righteous, enjoined battle,
then—because of failing to do so—having abandoned your own duty and the fame occasioned by meeting Mahādeva and others, you will incur sin alone.
Grammar check: 15 words pass / 0 flagged / 0 beyond the checkerPāṇini-verified
Every word's claimed grammar is re-derived with vidyut-prakriya, software implementing Pāṇini's rules. Flags are shown, never hidden; some are the text taking epic or Vedic liberties the classical rules do not generate.
Word by word
| surface | lemma | grammar |
|---|
| atha | atha | pass |
| cet | ced | pass |
| tvam | tvad | pass |
| imam | idam | pass |
| dharmyam | dharmya | pass |
| saṃgrāmam | saṃgrāma | pass |
| na | na | pass |
| kariṣyasi | kṛ | pass |
| tataḥ | tatas | pass |
| sva-dharmam | svadharma | pass |
| kīrtim | kīrti | pass |
| ca | ca | pass |
| hitvā | hā | pass |
| pāpam | pāpa | pass |
| avāpsyasi | āp | pass |
How the commentary settled it
Where the verse alone is ambiguous, the reading follows Śaṅkara's commentary; the deciding lines are quoted below each decision.
The clause introduced by cet is the protasis and extends through na kariṣyasi: “if you do not fight.”→ Conditional “if,” with na taking scope over kariṣyasi.
gita [1]na kariṣyasi cet
if you will not do [it]
Atha marks the presentation of the contrary alternative and is rendered “but.”
→ “But,” as an alternative-transition; compare the range given at MW s.v. atha, 17,3.
Dharmyam means not merely generically “religious” but “not departing from dharma” and “enjoined.”→ “Righteous, enjoined,” preserving both parts of the gloss.
gita [1]dharmyaṃ dharmād anapetaṃ vihitaṃ
dharmya: not departed from dharma, enjoined
Imam dharmyam saṃgrāmam is the accusative object of active kariṣyasi; in context kṛ with “battle” is rendered “fight.”→ Active “you will fight this … battle.”
gita [1]imaṃ dharmyaṃ dharmād anapetaṃ vihitaṃ saṃgrāmaṃ yuddhaṃ na kariṣyasi cet
if you do not undertake this dharmya—dharma-consistent and enjoined—saṃgrāma, that is, battle
Tataḥ is given a specifically causal force: the consequence arises from failure to perform the battle.→ “Then—because of failing to do so—.”
gita [1]tataḥ tad-akaraṇāt
then, because of the non-performance of that
Svadharma is analyzed as a karmadhāraya with adjectival sva, “one’s own duty.”
→ Karmadhāraya, “one’s own duty,” since sva functions directly as the adjective “own” (MW s.v. sva, 1275,1).
Kīrti is not left as wholly generic fame; the commentary qualifies it as fame occasioned by association or encounter with Mahādeva and others.→ “The fame occasioned by meeting Mahādeva and others.”
gita [1]kīrtiṃ ca mahā-devādi-samāgama-nimittāṃ
and the fame occasioned by meeting Mahādeva and others
Svadharmam and kīrtim are coordinated objects of the absolutive hitvā. Hitvā is from hā, “abandon,” rather than from dhā, because the commentary restates the result as parityāga, “abandonment.”→ The hā-absolutive “having abandoned/forfeited,” governing both “own duty” and “fame.”
gita [1]svadharmaṃ kīrtiṃ ca mahā-devādi-samāgama-nimittāṃ hitvā
having abandoned one’s own duty and the fame occasioned by meeting Mahādeva and others
gita [2]na kevalaṃ svadharma-kīrti-parityāgaḥ -
not merely the abandonment of one’s own duty and fame—
Pāpam is the object of avāpsyasi and is rendered idiomatically as “incur sin”; the commentary adds kevalam, supporting the emphatic “sin alone.”→ “You will incur sin alone.”
gita [1]kevalaṃ pāpam avāpsyasi
you will incur only sin
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1atha cet tvam imaṃ dharmyaṃ dharmād anapetaṃ vihitaṃ saṃgrāmaṃ yuddhaṃ na kariṣyasi cet, tataḥ tad-akaraṇāt svadharmaṃ kīrtiṃ ca mahā-devādi-samāgama-nimittāṃ hitvā kevalaṃ pāpam avāpsyasi ||bhgs_2.33||
2na kevalaṃ svadharma-kīrti-parityāgaḥ -