To a famous hero, dishonour is worse than death. This is another argument that Krishna brings forth, to persuade his friend to give up his hesitation in fighting the great war. The general import is that, if Arjuna were to abandon the fight, he could do so only because of his cowardice, since, the cause of the war is righteous. Certainly, there is an under-current of sympathy in Krishna’s words: he realises that, however great a hero Arjuna might be, even he could be weakened by wrong emotionalism.

MOREOVER:

Not only will there be the giving up of your duty and fame, but bhutani, people; ca api, also; kathayisyanti, will speak; te, of your; avyayam, unending, perpetual; akrtim, infamy. Ca, and; sambhavitasya, to an honoured person, to a person honoured with such epithets as ‘virtuous’, ‘heroic’, etc.; akirtih, infamy; atiricyate, is worse than; maranat, death. The meaning is that, to an honoured person death is perferable to infamy.