... with you on your journey
The Battle
A profound moment when Krishna teaches Arjuna on right conduct.
On the field of Kurukshetra all was tranquil the evening before the battle between the forces of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Arjuna who was the greatest archer of the latter group, pondered heavily on what was to come. For you see, the Kauravas were his brothers too and when the slaughter began, he knew he would be killing members of his own family.
He turned to the Lord Krishna in anguish:
"Alas what heinous sin are we about to commit from greed of
sovereign and power, that we are prepared to slay our kith
and kin! Happier would I be if my Kaurava brothers were to
strike me down on the battlefield, unresisting and
unarmed."
Krishna proceeded to instruct him on how delusion leads
one to differentiate between atman, the permanent universal
spirit and the transitory body, which is mistaken for the
true self. He taunted Arjuna:
"How is it that at this perilous moment, thoughts unworthy of
the noble have overtaken thee?"
Arjuna lamented:
"How can I engage with arrows my teachers Bhishma and Drona
who are worthy of my reverence? Nor do we know whether it is
better that we conquer them or they conquer us. I will not
fight. I will not kill my teachers or my kinsmen."
Krishna then spoke:
"You are a kshatriya [warrior caste] and it is your duty to
fight injustice and oppose wrongfulness. The struggle you
seek to avoid is the struggle within your own self. It cannot
be escaped ...
Renunciation [sannyasa] and action [karmayoga] can both lead to salvation, Arjuna, but of the two the latter is essential, while the former is necessary ...
One who is always in action can be a good renouncer, but the one who avoids action, excused through poetic lies told to oneself repeated to oneself like a monotonous mantra, is a hypocrite ...
We all must act, but it is the attachment to the result of our action, that we must renounce ...
You grieve for naught, O shining prince.
You kill no one, for I have already slain everyone!"
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