2.34. And all beings will forever speak of your disgrace, that is, they will censure you. Such disgrace is more sorrowful than death for an honored man.
Commentary: "And beings will recount your imperishable disgrace" — Even ordinary beings such as humans, deities, Yakshas, Rakshasas, etc., who have no particular connection with you—meaning they are neither your friends nor your foes—will also speak of your disgrace and ill-repute, saying, "Look! How cowardly Arjuna was, that he turned away from his Kshatriya-dharma. He was considered so valiant, but at the moment of battle his cowardice was revealed, which others did not even know about;" and so on.
The implication of saying "your" is that your disgrace will spread even in the celestial, mortal, and nether worlds, where your fame is established. The meaning of "imperishable" is that the more renowned a man is for his excellence, the more enduring his fame and infamy become.
"For one who has been honored, disgrace is worse than death" — In the first half of the verse, the Lord described how ordinary beings would censure Arjuna. Now, in the latter half, He states a general truth applicable to all.
From the worldly point of view, when a man who is considered superior, whom people regard with high esteem, incurs disgrace, that disgrace becomes more terrible and sorrowful for him than death. The reason is that in death, his lifespan has merely ended; he has not committed any offense. But in incurring disgrace, he himself has fallen from dharma's bounds, from his duty. The essence is that if a man regarded as superior among people deviates from his duty, he incurs terrible infamy.
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