“Dhrtarastra said: O Sanjaya, after assembling in the place of pilgrimage at Kuruksetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, being desirous to fight?

“Sanjaya said: O King, after looking over the army gathered by the sons of Pandu, Prince Duryodhana went to his teacher and began to speak the following words:

“O my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pandu, so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple, the son of Drupada.

“Here in this army there are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhima and Arjuna; there are also great fighters like Yuyudhana, Virata and Drupada.

“There are also great, heroic, powerful fighters like Dhrstaketu, Cekitana, Kasiraja, Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Saibya

“There are the mighty Yudhamanyu, the very powerful Uttamauja, the son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi. All these warriors are great chariot fighters. …

“Our strength is immeasurable, and we are perfectly protected by Grandfather Bhisma, whereas the strength of the Pandavas, carefully protected by Bhima, is limited. …

“Then Bhisma, the great valiant grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, the grandfather of the fighters, blew his conch shell very loudly like the sound of a lion, giving Duryodhana joy. …

“When the son of Kunti, Arjuna, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion and spoke thus:

“The son of Pṛthā saw men who were fathers, grandfathers, revered teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, as well as friends, fathers-in-law and well-wishing friends, standing there in both armies. Observing all his relatives in the armored state, that son of Kuntī was overwhelmed by deep compassion. Feeling discouraged, he spoke this: Having seen this situation of my own people, standing near, eager for combat, my legs collapse, and my mouth dries up. A trembling is in my body and a bristling of my hair takes place. The Gāṇḍīva bow falls from my hand. Indeed, my skin burns.”

“I cannot remain standing. My mind feels as if it wavers. I perceive bad indications, O beautiful-haired one. And I can imagine no benefit in killing off my kinfolk in battle. I do not desire victory, O Krishna, or political power, or good feelings. What value to us would there be with political control of a nation, O Chief of the cowherds? What use would there be with the enjoyable aspects or with life? Those in whose interest, the political control, the enjoyments and pleasures, were desired by us, …(they) are armed in battle formation, having left aside their lives and financial assets. These are revered teachers, fathers, sons and also grandfathers, …brothers of our mothers, fathers of our wives, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and also their relatives. O slayer of Madhu, I do not desire to slay them even though they are intent on killing, …even for political control of the three sectors of the universe, how then for the earth? O motivator of people, what joy should be had by killing the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra? Having killed the offenders, sin will take hold of us. Therefore we are not justified to kill the sons of Dhritarashtra, our relatives. Having killed our own people, how should we be happy, O descendant of Madhu?”

“O Krishna, those who destroy the family customs dwell in hell indefinitely. This was declared repeatedly. O! What a wonder! We are committed to perform a great sin, being eager to kill our kinfolk, through greed for aristocratic pleasures. ” ~Excerpts from the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter One

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1

The Bhagavad-Gita is a Sanskrit poem incorporated into the Mahabharata, one of the greatest religious classics of Hinduism. It is considered to be Hindu scripture along with the Vedas. This is the first in a series of commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and what these excerpts mean to students of Cosolargy. In this one, we concentrate on the study of Chapter one, which seems to be mostly about war, but the latter part shows anti-war feelings instead. I have therefore chosen to comment mostly on the anti-war part. It should be noted, however, that as most scripture of all religions is symbolic and allegorical, much of this talk about a war between two human armies may, in some ways, be a reference to the war between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness.

Chapter One

In the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, a war is taking place, or getting ready to take place. Two armies have gathered. It begins by talking about the skills of the soldiers and the weapons they bear. But on one side is said to be Lord Krishna and Arjuna on a chariot drawn by white horses and they “sounded their transcendental conch shells.” This description tells me that this is not an ordinary battle between men of one country and men of another. The description tells me, in allegorical terms, that this is the great battle of Light against Dark, the forces of God against the forces of the Demiurge, the false god.

Arjuna Becomes Passive

As the chapter proceeds, Arjuna looks around him and sees people he knows on both sides of the battlefield. He starts to question if he should be in such a fight. He sees teachers, business leaders, fathers, and mothers on the other side. He sees neighbors, friends, cousins, aunts, and uncles on the other side. He tells Krishna that he thinks it is wrong to fight against neighbors and kinsmen, saying “those who destroy the family customs dwell in hell indefinitely.” What Arjuna says makes sense to most of us. But Krishna tells him that he is wrong and he must fight in this war. Eventually, Arjuna agrees to fight on the side of Krishna.

This again tells me that we are talking allegorically about the battle between Light and Dark. I can’t imagine that Krishna would have been encouraging Arjuna and others to fight in an ordinary war. If that would have been the case, then Krishna was no Christ, no spiritual adept. But I think he was a Christ with an awakened Soul, so he would only want people to fight in the war of Light against Dark, and that war is not fought with killing and violence.

Dwell in Hell

I think many people who read this line about going to hell for breaking the bonds of family are surprised by it. I think that those who believe in reincarnation generally don’t believe in Hell. There would be no need for a Hell if everyone reincarnated as many times as necessary to purify their Soul. Arjuna here speaks of Hell as something real and gets no contradiction from Krishna for it. It seems that Krishna believed in hell also. Of course, the real hell is not like that commonly depicted in art and legends as a place full of fires where the Souls of the fallen burn eternally. It is simply the second dimension of reality, one dimension below us here in the third dimension. The real punishment of hell is knowing that you have blown your last chance to become one with God and one with Universal Consciousness.

A Great Sin

Arjuna is correct in saying that those who fight their own brothers and sisters in a physical war are committing a great sin. There may be a rare exception to this, but it is very rare. For example, many believe we were right in fighting against Hitler in World War II and they might be correct. Hitler was becoming so evil that he might have destroyed the world if he hadn’t been stopped. Yet even in those cases, killing others in a war still leaves us with a great Karma debt to be paid.