Sankhya Yoga 2.3

||2.3||

क्लैब्यं मा स्म गम: पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते ।

क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप ।। ३ ।।

Klybyam maa smagama paartha naitththyyupapadhyathe

Kshudran hrudaya dourbalyam thyakthvoththishta paranthapa

klaibyam—unmanliness; mā sma—do not; gamaḥ—yield to; pārtha—Arjuna, the son of Pritha; na—not; etat—this; tvayi—to you; upapadyate—befitting; kṣhudram—petty; hṛidaya—heart; daurbalyam—weakness; tyaktvā—giving up; uttiṣhṭha—arise; param-tapa—conqueror of enemies

O Partha it does not befit you to yield to this unmanliness. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O vanquisher of enemies.

The one who behaves in a way unbefitting of manliness is mentioned here. Arjuna’s qualities and training  as a warrior do not befit his present behavior. He had once waged war against Lord shiva himself. He had never experienced the weakness of heart before. While Krishna asks him to drop this weakness, he at the same time reminds him of his abilities by addressing him the vanquisher of enemies and orders him to arise and fight. 

In the principle of prakriti and purusha (the inanimate universe and the only conscious principle), as long as one depends on the inanimate universe, he is only considered  an eunuch. If one solely depends on the conscious principle which is his true self, only then he is considered a man. This applies to both man and woman. Bhagavan thoroughly rejects the weakness of depending on prakriti. नायमात्मा बलहीनेन लभ्य: naayamathma balaheenena labyaha. An upanishad says this Atma cannot be attained by the weak minded. On this occasion, Krishna’s teaching comes from this upanishad mantra. One has to be strong physically, mentally and spiritually in order to attain freedom from bondage. One needs to be strong even to follow his swadharma as well.

Krishna says one needs to get rid of one’s weaknesses. A spiritual aspirant should carefully look within to analyse the kinds of weaknesses he possesses. He should realize that Krishna also reminds us that we have the ability to overcome our own weaknesses and rise above our limitations. We can achieve anything if we train our body and mind to be stronger. We cannot afford to be complacent and later complain about our surroundings and situations. So get strong!