Bhagavad Gita 1.46
यदि मामप्रतीकारमशस्त्रं शस्त्रपाणयः । धार्तराष्ट्रा रणे हन्युस्तन्मे क्षेमतरं भवेत् ॥
yadi mām apratīkāram aśastraṃ śastra-pāṇayaḥ | dhārtarāṣṭrā raṇe hanyus tan me kṣemataraṃ bhavet ||
Translation
If, weapons in hand, the sons of Dhritarashtra were to kill me, unresisting and unarmed, in the battle, that would be better for me.
Reflection
Where would you rather lose than do what you have to do?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter One
Kṣemataraṃ. More auspicious. Better. Arjuna would prefer his own unarmed death to the killing of his teachers and kin. The wish is the chapter's deepest move. Not a request, not a strategy. A preference, stated quietly to the man holding the reins of his chariot. He would rather be killed than kill. The sentence is the floor of his collapse. There is nowhere lower for the argument to go. The next thing that happens is the bow leaving his hand for good.