Srimad BhagavadGita

From ślokas 2.31 to 2.34, Kṛṣṇa corrected Arjuna's misconception of perceiving dharma (rightful duty) as adharma (sin).

In the following 3 ślokas, Kṛṣṇa is removing Arjuna's excessive affection towards his relatives due to his misplaced compassion. After hearing Kṛṣṇa's words in the previous śloka about what everybody will think if he gives up fighting the war, Arjuna might wonder, 'Due to my pure affection towards my relatives and my compassion that they will lose their lives, I wish to stop this war and not because i am scared of war. I will in fact be hailed for my decision and not mocked for being a coward'. In this śloka, Kṛṣṇa begins to clear this misconception of Arjuna by educating him that these same relatives will not only think that he feared the war and ran away but also spread this account of his cowardice to the whole world.

Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna, "These great warriors will think that you fled from the war out of fear. These men who held you in high esteem will consider you a coward and ridicule you."

yeṣāṃ (These great warriors) Kṛṣṇa intends to say that, 'O Arjuna, these great warriors like Karṇa, Duryodhana and others who have inflicted great hardships on you and your family nonetheless admire you for your valiance. The same people will now start ridiculing and disrespecting you. Learned elders like Bhīṣma and Droṇa might not think of you as a 'coward who ran away from the battlefield fearing his life', but your rivals like Duryodhana will definitely think that way. Since they themselves are valiant warriors who are in awe of your war expertise, who have always fostered enmity with you and have wanted to cause suffering to you, there is no probability that this compassionate act of yours towards them will fetch you any goodwill from them. They will surely not glorify you for this act. 

tvam bahumataḥ bhūtvā (who held you in high esteem) A bahumataḥ is one who is considered great due to the many great qualities he has. These words of Kṛṣṇa and their meaning can be best understood through this presumed conversation between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.

Kṛṣṇa: O Arjuna! You are hailed by all including these opponents like Duryodhana for your many great qualities like courage, bravery, valour, skill, etc. Losing their respect will be an irrevocable loss for you. They would not have understood your intention behind backing off from war even if you were a valiant opponent with no enmity or an enemy with no valiance but here you are a valiant warrior with a valid reason for enmity with them too. Hence there is no possibility at all for them to interpret this act of yours in good sense. O Arjuna! keep up your reputation and do not back off from war at his hour.

Arjuna: I no more have any enmity towards them.

Kṛṣṇa: Arjuna, if your enmity towards Duryodhana and others was lost gradually over a period of time, people would still assume that, 'This Arjuna is no doubt valiant, it is just that the enmity between them is over and hence no war happened'. But since the war has already started and since you have projected yourself as having enmity up until this second, to suddenly back off now saying that the enmity is over, will only give people the impression that you are a coward.

lāghavam yāsyasi Lāghavam means 'to take lightly' or 'to be underrated'. Using the words 'yāsyasi lāghavam' here, Kṛṣṇa explains to Arjuna that the time was just not right for Arjuna to back off from war. Though the truth was that Arjuna could not be defeated in battle, a contrary image about him that he can be very easily defeated would be formed all over the world.

mahārathāḥ bhayād raṇād uparataṃ mansyante With these words Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna that, 'O Arjuna! These great warriors will think that you ran away from the battlefield because of your fear and cowardice. To back off because the enemy is stronger is another case but to back off from war because of affection towards relatives who are your opponents too is not expected of you at all, especially since you are a valiant warrior with a legitimate cause for enmity. Hence there is no doubt that they will think you ran away from war due to fear.'  

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