There may still be a small puzzling question as to why a holy book would be set in the middle of a war zone. The Gita is a dialog between Arjuna (Human) and Krishna (Divine) between two armies – a large force fighting for Duryodhana and a smaller one under Arjuna’s command. Before the war commences, Arjuna has some doubts that need to be resolved, beginning with – is it not moral to reject war rather than to engage in it? The moral dilemma is further complicated by the fact that Arjuna is fighting his cousin Duryodhana!
Almost anyone will accept and appreciate that one ought to wage peace and not war. But the conclusion at the end of the Gita appears to be different – Arjuna must fight the war, not flee! This conclusion requires justification, and this post will attempt to do so.
The Gita is a small part of the Epic Mahabharata. To give an idea of just how small a part – the Gita consists of 700 verses, while the Mahabharata consists of about 100,000 verses! No serious scholar in the history of interpreting the Gita has ever made the mistake of reading the Gita as disparate from the Epic Mahabharata. Unless the events of the epic are examined, there is no way to make sense of the moral dilemma of Arjuna. What were the series of events that gave rise to Arjuna’s dilemma, and make him want to abandon the war with Duryodhana? Here are the highlights indicating how vicious Duryodhana really is:
1) Duryodhana poisons Arjuna’s brother (Bhima), binds with a rope, and throws him into a river to drown. (Bhima is fortunately saved).
2) Duryodhana invites Arjuna and his brothers to live in a palace, and one night while the guests are fast asleep, sets fire to the palace in order to burn them alive. (Arjuna and his brothers manage to escape).
3) Duryodhana plays a game of chance (dice) with Arjuna’s brother, and wins over the opponent’s kingdom on the condition that it will be returned after thirteen years. At the end of thirteen years, Duryodhana refuses to return the kingdom, thus making war inevitable.
The main reason for the war is that Duryodhana does not fulfill the conditions of the bet – ruling over the kingdom for thirteen years and then returning it at the end of the period. What is outrageous is not only does Duryodhana not fulfill his part of the agreement, but also the manner in which he seeks war and not peace:
Arjuna and his brothers: Duryodhana, you are bound by the conditions of the wager to return our kingdom to us, but can you at least spare us five villages that we can rule over?
Duryodhana: I don’t want to spare even five villages for you.
Arjuna and his brothers: How about five houses so we live as ordinary citizens in your kingdom?
Duryodhana: I will not give you as much land as there is on the tip of a needle!
This last statement is one of the most notorious uttered by Duryodhana – he wants no part of any peace process, and wishes only war!
To recap:
(1) Arjuna is fighting evil.
(2) Arjuna is a warrior, who cannot abandon his duty in the midst of a war zone! The peace process is past, war is the present reality!
Arjuna’s moral option is to go ahead with battle against evil and not abandon his responsibility towards his fellow warriors.
