Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 2: The Path of Understanding
Bhagavad Gita 2.5
गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान्
श्रेयो भोक्तुं भैक्ष्यमपीह लोके ।
हत्वार्थकामांस्तु गुरूनिहैव
भुञ्जीय भोगान् रुधिरप्रदिग्धान् ॥
gurūnahatvā hi mahānubhāvān śreyo bhoktuṃ bhaikṣyamapīha loke | hatvārthakāmāṃstu gurūnihaiva bhuñjīya bhogān rudhirapradigdhān ||
It would be better to live in this world by begging than to kill these great-souled teachers. If I killed them, even though they seek their own gain, every pleasure I enjoyed here would be stained with blood.
Modern context
'Better to live by begging than to enjoy what is stained with blood.' Arjuna is saying that no gain is worth the betrayal of those we revere, and there is real moral weight in that. Notice, though, that a prince proposes to become a beggar: he would leave his own role entirely. The wish to escape a hard duty often presents itself as humility.