The Bhagavad Gita

The Justification of Warfare in the Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita, translated from Sanskrit as “The Lord’s Song”, is the dialogue between Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna as the charioteer and archer enter battle in the Mahabharata. Arjuna tells Lord Krishna that he feels emotionally conflicted entering into this war since it requires him to kill his own blood, and engage in actions that he feels go against his beliefs as a Hindu. At this point, the two stop in the middle of the battlefield, and Lord Krishna launches into a narrative that enlightens Arjuna on human nature and the purpose of human life as defined by one’s duties, actions, and knowledge. Arjuna’s main conflicts from engaging in the war were rooted in the fact that he would be spilling the blood of his own relatives, and that killing his relatives in order regain control of his family’s kingdom would be just as sinful as would his relatives killing him in order to keep control of their lands. Arjuna could not understand how the needs of one could warrant the death of
Failing to follow one’s duty however, is cause for shame, embarrassment, and ridicule, and this leads Lord Krishna to tell Arjuna that people will not see him deserting the war as an act of compassion, but rather an act of cowardice. No respect will be brought to a Kshatriya leader who cannot fulfill his duty as a warrior and would rather cower away from a righteous battle. Arjuna’s name would be associated with great humiliation, and he himself would be brought more fear. Krishna conveys to Arjuna that “No effort in this world / is lost or wasted; / a fragment of sacred duty / saves you from great fear” and in doing so illustrates the idea that just by Arjuna taking the effort to participate in the war he will be fulfilling his sacred duty and in doing so saving himself, and his family, from the great fear of humiliation and insult (Vyasa