Bhagavad Gita 2.34
अकीर्तिं चापि भूतानि कथयिष्यन्ति तेऽव्ययाम् । सम्भावितस्य चाकीर्तिर्मरणादतिरिच्यते ॥
akīrtiṃ cāpi bhūtāni kathayiṣyanti te 'vyayām | sambhāvitasya cākīrtir maraṇād atiricyate ||
Translation
And people will recount your everlasting infamy; and to one held in honor, infamy is worse than death.
Reflection
Whose reading of your refusal have you been pretending you do not care about?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Two
The argument from social reality. People will tell the story. Of you. Forever. And for the man who has been held in honor, public dishonor is worse than dying. Krishna is using the leverage of Arjuna's public position, not appealing to his nobility. The teaching is willing to argue from any side that will move the listener. Not every motivation is metaphysical. Sometimes the right move is found by walking around the question and naming what refusing it will cost in the eyes of the people who know you. The verse does not condescend to this argument; it deploys it.