The Lost Battle?
Re-imagination of the Bhagavad Gita
Arjun is at Kurukshetra and is keenly observing his surroundings while being seeped with apprehension and despair. After looking at thousands of individuals preparing for war on the battlefield, he gets overwhelmed and closes his eyes. He tries to breathe deeply but finds it difficult to do so. For a brief moment, he tries to capture the reason why he is standing there but remains unconvinced. He fails to remember anything and he starts feeling saturated by his entire system of thinking.
The only feelings he has are those of grief and fear as he watches his own family, brothers, and friends preparing for the epic battle. After witnessing the military formations led by both sides, he starts to project the scene as one in hell and already predicts the most obvious consequence of the war: death.
He then opens his eyes and says to Krishna,
“Oh, My Saviour! Oh My Lord! Where am I? What kind of hell is this where individuals are preparing to kill and die? My hands are shaking and my chest is heavy. I cannot think straight about killing my own kinsmen at any cost. All my brothers I have grown up with! What will happen to them? Oh, Dear Krishna! How can doing this ever bring the world happiness and joy?”
At the same time, he starts thinking in his head,
I am feeling utterly restless. While I am aware that the time has arrived to fulfil my Kshatriya dharma but if I fight now, I will be committing the greatest crime of killing my own family members. What kind of victory will I conquer after this terrible act?
Krishna is unfazed by what Arjun says and looks into his eyes with a sense of firmness and power to say,
“What’s wrong with waging a war?”
Arjun is perplexed and stares blankly into Krishna’s face.
“What is it that you fear, Arjun?
“ The fear of losing my family members is horrifying.”
“Arjun, you need to understand what constitutes your fears. For that requires you to dive deep into the fundamental abyss that births your thoughts and belief systems. The existence of this fear is crippling you to a point where you cannot make a clear distinction between right and wrong. You need to first understand this fear and your moral dilemma will resolve itself automatically.”
I sincerely believe Krishna is right here. I have to understand why am I overcome with grief and anxiety at the thought of killing? I am a proud Kshatriya and this should not bother me. However, this time, it is my family members whose lives are at stake and I cannot ever think of betraying them.
Arjun is partially convinced of his moral undertakings and says
“Thank you for guiding me, my lord. I do understand that my deepest fear is the betrayal of my own family members who will die in this war, but I still..”
After a moment of rumination, Krishna claims,
“Dear Arjun, you are wise. And wise men do not worry about the living and the dead. They transcend these barriers into a world that has more enrichment for the soul.”
“But… But what about the intense levels of sorrow and suffering caused to them?”
“What is sorrow but a short moment without happiness? The impermanent nature of joy and sorrow is boundless and one who understands this is well set on a path to true liberation. Arjun, you must also understand that the soul is the only permanent facet that is indestructible and immutable. It is the boundless component in a body bound by material gratifications. Hence you cannot destroy any soul in this world.”
I think Krishna is definitely right about the true liberation of the soul. He also mentioned that the soul is indestructible. But…but..if no soul will die in this war then why should we even engage with the fighting and killing at all? However, Krishna is the supreme lord. He has to be right. I must refrain from questioning his intentions.
“Listen to me closely Arjun. Those who die will be born again and this cycle of rebirth will continue till one fulfils their dharma or religious duty and here, it is your religious duty to fight this war. I assure you that you will not conquer sin if you worry about life and death while fighting this war. You will hence be truly awakened when, in the battlefield, at the hour of death, you are detached and in a state of pure transcendental consciousness.”
Wait, does my ultimate dharma involve killing my own family members? I understand that the Kauravas incorrectly took what was ours but if our response to it involves killing, how is that justice? How do I gain liberation by killing other people? How does this work? It is seeming unclear to me but these are the words of Krishna. He is the wisest but why is he advocating this violence? Why is he supporting something that instinctively feels so wrong to me? Am I in the wrong? Or is Krishna in the wrong?
Krishna then continues,
“Dear Arjun, I know not of any other human who can do this but you. And I know this because I am the Supreme Lord, keeper of all beings.”
Arjun is transfixed. He is filled with profound respect and adoration for Krishna yet he internally ponders over the ethics of his decisions. After briefly understanding this, he says,
“I do not worry about the suffering of myself. For, it is only after renouncing material aspects of life, I will be able to truly start living with a sense of enlightenment. However..”
He starts to hesitate and nervously continues,
“My lord! I still do not know how to submit to the action of staying calm in the chaos. After all the impeccable training I received in archery, I have learned to kill the enemy with a single stroke from far and wide. But here my own family members have become my enemy and I cannot get myself to believe that they know no pain and deserve to die.”
Krishna without listening to Arjun says immediately,
“You ask too many questions, Arjun. Instead, you should follow your dharma and declare war.”
Declare war? How can I declare war if I still cannot understand how rendering to one’s thoughts of killing can be so Godly as Krishna claims! How unjust would it be, if something like this happens?
And thus says,
“Krishna, you are the one true God. You have the power and the capacity to construct and destroy everything around you. This is the reason why you are so highly revered…”
Arjun pauses and looks down into the ground.
“However… I don’t believe I am capable…”
Krishna senses the cause of the hesitation in Arjun’s voice and gets angry. In a fierce voice, he disrupts the conversation by saying,
“Arjun, I know that I am the Supreme Lord. Everything rests upon me. I am the governor of hearts and those with true knowledge surrender to my might. You are very dear to me and your devotional spirit is empowering. I would not want you to be deluded with ignorance and this is the reason why I will show you my true form.”
Krishna then goes on to show Arjun his limitless and unbound form. By manifesting himself to Arjun, he gives him a flavour of his sheer magnificence and grandeur. He believes this will persuade Arjun to quit his worries and get on with the fighting at the war.
Arjun is certainly struck by Krishna’s charm and magnificence. However, at the same time, he is entirely paralysed with fear and admiration for Krishna. He cannot fathom his greatness and instead, gets scared.
I am terrified to see this form of Krishna. It is so unbelievable that he has the kind of power that embodies the entire universe. I am definitely stuck in a greater bind now. Does the presence of limitless power and force mean that one is always morally right? Why is Krishna using this form to justify what he was saying earlier? Just because I don’t have this sheer power and dominance, does it mean that I am wrong?
He finally collects his thoughts and says,
“But… I? I am just a human, right? Am I not? Am I not a human with humanlike limitations and flaws? How can I ever come close to achieving this “Godly” state such as yours? I love my brothers and my uncles who are going to sacrifice their lives today for a greater good but it is heartbreaking to think of them as mere puppets at the hands of an unjust human such as I.”
“But I will give you the power to act like a God for these people, Arjun. Do not worry.”
Arjun’s moral obligations start to haunt him. His self-worth gets intertwined with the moral enigma of Krishna and he feels trapped by a stream of thought that is contradictory to his own. Arjun keeps thinking,
Why would an all benevolent God not support just ideas of non-violence and complete renunciation of evil and violence? Why would he need to use such physical power and enigma to convince me? Are his ideas themselves not powerful enough? Allegiance to violence and the need to use power to convince others that they are right are such humans traits… wait.. does this mean…is Krishna human too?! Yes, he ought to be! And being human is not necessarily bad. In fact, the most beautiful aspect is the acknowledgment of the realization that — maybe I am wrong and I have flaws.
Arjun is enamoured by this discovery in his head. He thus no longer looks at Krishna as the Supreme God but as someone with humanlike limitations and flaws that are found in every being alive.
“My Krishna, the truest nature of human beings is not premised on the notion of infallibility that is so intrinsic to a God, but rather, to the determination of failures abound in every human life.”
After this revelation, Arjun feels relieved and continues to ponder over the moral dilemma that was made clear to him in the beginning.
He has the following thoughts circulating in his mind,
When one is obligated to fight a war in their own lives, against their own people, they cannot surpass questions of morality. Who gives me the right to take a life when I do not possess the right to grant one? While it seems like I am killing for fulfilling my duty of being a Kshatriya, essentially what I am doing is killing for property rights, isn’t it? Why should that be a good enough reason to kill? Where is the world heading if we, on the basis of our Dharma assume a power dynamic superior to the rest and unleash ultimate destruction and chaos? And how is this Dharma?…
…I think I am finally getting some clarity now. I feel convinced that I need to give up arms and follow the path of non-violence. What will be the difference if even I am to follow the path of destruction without reflecting on its outcomes? Even though I am a Kshatriya, I will pardon the Kauravas and make them realize their mistakes for the greater good. I’m not sure how though, but there has to be a better way to deal with conflicts than through brute violence. I must tell Krishna, that the principles of love, peace, and non-violence should also be included and spread along with his teachings of Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, and Jnana Yoga —which have formed the essence of his message in the Bhagavad Gita so far.
Violence should not be Dharma. Dharma should not be violence.
He then looks up to Krishna, with his eyes shining with tears, pauses for a moment of silence.
And then says,
“Govinda, I shall not fight this war.”
About the Story:
The Mahabharata is the closest representation to reality that one can find which has stayed unfazed throughout time and existence, which embodies the sheer nature of humankind and their quest for power. The Epic battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas results in the former being victorious and is usually explained as being ‘morally righteous’ and in line with certain notions of ‘dharma’. However an interesting moment of self-questioning and doubt appears in this epic just before the horrific war unfolds.
In this moment, Arjun, son of King Pandu, has a deeply philosophical conversation with Krishna, the limitless God, in the form of a dialogue which is written in the Bhagavad Gita. Here, Krishna using his rhetorical powers convinces Arjuna to believe that his words are to be taken as ultimate as he is God. We see how Arjun is swayed away by this enigmatic leader. While he does engage in some questioning, a true possibility of him critiquing Krishna through and countering his framework never emerges because the die has already been cast in his favour by virtue of him being a God. Arjun unconditionally complies with whatever is told to him and reveres Krishna as the Supreme Lord with uncontested faith and adoration. When one’s self-worth is attached to an unquestionable being, how far can they go to promote the good and disrupt the bad?
Such myths have played a huge role in shaping the world that we live in which supports unquestionable affinity towards religious leaders and government authorities. This long pantheon of human thought thrives in a culture where everyone simply follows what is told to them in a mechanical sense. Rarely do we see individuals trying to counter this or develop the critical skills to challenge the ideas imposed on them. My humble story follows in the footsteps of modern thinkers such as Jyotiba Phule who believed that reinterpretation of mythical discourses can help engender a critical consciousness in the masses and help articulate the dissent of the repressed class (followers) who have historically been marginalised from dominant discourses. The route that the conversation in this story takes is different from the original Mahabharata and is in no way intended to replicate the original conversation and only draws upon the existing literature as a springboard for a reinterpretation.
About the Author:
Manali Amitav is a Young India Fellow who is deeply intrigued by Indian mythology. She loves to spend her time reading philosophical texts and consistently indulging in philosophical discussions with her peers.
Slightly disillusioned by her conventional background in Economics and Finance, she currently finds herself in a challenging Liberal Arts Program that continues to shape her ideas and overall personality everyday.
