Bhagavad Gita 2.5
गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके । हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव भुञ्जीय भोगान्रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् ॥
gurūn ahatvā hi mahānubhāvān śreyo bhoktuṃ bhaikṣyam apīha loke | hatvārtha-kāmāṃs tu gurūn ihaiva bhuñjīya bhogān rudhira-pradigdhān ||
Translation
It is better to live even on alms in this world than to kill these great-souled teachers; for though desirous of worldly gain, they are still my superiors; killing them, I would enjoy in this world only pleasures stained with blood.
Reflection
Which catastrophe are you painting in detail to make today's choice unthinkable?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Two
The argument turns to choice between extremes. Begging is preferable to killing the teacher. Bhaikṣyam, alms, sounds like a noble alternative. It also sounds like cosplay; Arjuna has never begged for food in his life. The vivid line is the second one: pleasures stained with blood. He paints the possible future in the goriest detail he can manage, as if the painting itself will close the question. Aurobindo notes that this is despair's favorite tactic, to inflate one side of the ledger so the other becomes unthinkable. The catastrophe rendered too vivid stops the hand.