Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 1: Arjuna's Despair
Bhagavad Gita 1.35
एतान्न हन्तुमिच्छामि घ्नतोऽपि मधुसूदन ।
अपि त्रैलोक्यराज्यस्य हेतोः किं नु महीकृते ॥
etānna hantumicchāmi ghnato'pi madhusūdana | api trailokyarājyasya hetoḥ kiṃ nu mahīkṛte ||
I do not want to kill them, Madhusudana, even if they kill me; not for rule over the three worlds, let alone for this earth.
Modern context
'I would rather be killed than kill.' It is a noble sentence, and Krishna will not mock it. But he will ask what lies behind it: a settled principle, or a wish to be free of an unbearable responsibility. The same words can come from either.