ज्यायसी चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन।तत्किं कर्मणि घोरे मां नियोजयसि केशव॥
jyāyasī cet karmaṇas te matā buddhir janārdanatat kiṃ karmaṇi ghore māṃ niyojayasi keśava
Word by word
The verse says
Arjuna said: If you think understanding is better than action, Krishna, then why are you pushing me into this terrible work?
In plain words
Arjuna opens the chapter with a complaint, and it is a fair one.
You spent all of Chapter 2 telling me the settled mind is what matters. Then you told me to fight. Which is it?
His word for the work is ghore - terrible, dreadful. He has not softened on that. He still thinks the thing he is being asked to do is awful.
Where you've felt this · in study
Your mother tells you that keeping the family together matters more than being right about the land. Ten minutes later, in the same conversation, she tells you not to let your brother walk over you. Both things are true and you believe both of them. You still have to decide what to say when he rings on Tuesday.
Going deeper
This objection is the reason Chapter 3 exists, and it is worth crediting Arjuna for it.
He is not being difficult. Chapter 2 really did move between two registers. Verses 11 to 30 were about what is real; verses 39 to 53 were about acting without craving the fruit. Krishna even named the two himself at 2.39 - sāṅkhya and yoga, the analysis and the practice.
Arjuna has heard that as two options and quite reasonably asked which one he is supposed to take.
There is also something honest in the question that is easy to miss. He is not asking out of curiosity. He would very much like the answer to be understanding, because understanding can be done sitting down.
Notice too that he uses two different names for Krishna in two lines. Both of them belong to a Krishna who acts - one who kills demons and protects people. Even while arguing for withdrawal, he keeps addressing the one who does things.