Analysis Of The The Kurukshetra Battle
Arjuna, liked above all others by his Guru, whose bravery and skilfulness is respected and looked up onwas shivering at the thought of the war ahead of him. He spoke of how the pleasures of victory and kingship are not worth the colossal manslaughter that this war asks from them. He wouldn't sacrifice his family for the kingship of the three worlds, much less for a small piece of land on earth. Whom will they enjoy with, who will they celebrate and share their happiness with if their very kinsmen were to be sacrificed for the kingdom? How can they be happy after sinning against their own blood? Arjuna feels pity. He acknowledges that the mind of the Kauravas is filled with greed. They see no wrong in war, or even treachery against family. He asks Krishna "Being wise, shouldn't it be our job to stop this massacre?" He adds to his point by mentioning their kula dharma or duty to lineage. He goes to the limit of saying that it'd be better if the Kauravas slay him while he remains without resisting or attacking.
The Kurukshetra is basically an epic battle between factions of the royal house of India, to decide the succession to the throne.
Analysis of Arjuna Vishada Yoga
A simple analysis of the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita shows that under the guise of mercy lies Arjuna’s moha or attachment. Arjuna's mind was distorting facts so his justification for wanting to withdraw was constructed to seem in a accordance with Dharma. In his moments of weakness he ignores that the war was not just for the Pandavas to regain their throne but for the establishment of righteousness over the kingdom, for protection of their subjects and for fulfilment of their obligation to their ancestors. They had tried every method of establishing peace, all possible means of compromise but Duryodhana hadn't complied. It was Arjuna's grief and fear acting on him. These emotions clouded his rationale at the sight of the imminent war. He spoke of the worthlessness of the kingdom they would win but ignored why he needed to win. His Dharma asked of him to preserve the glory of his kingdom, to provide justice to his subjects and in the context of Dvapara Yuga, he had to defeat the evil which in this case happened to be his own blood.
Arjuna’s Dilemma
Arjuna was a great warrior. There was no question of his defeat based on his skills, however he was not willing to take another person’s life. But being a warrior, it was his duty to fight. On the battlefield, Arjuna refused to fight his grand uncle Bhishma and his Guru Acharya Drona. He could not go against his guru, the man who taught him everything. The Kauravas Bhishma and Drona would give their best in the fight; they wouldn’t hesitate to kill the Pandavas because they will see it as their duty to kill their enemies. But if Arjuna refuses to fight, won’t he be letting down his Pandava brothers? The Kauravas however, were evil but according to Arjuna they were still his cousin brothers, his own blood, and his kinsmen.
Psychological Analysis Transactional analysis (P-A-C) states that when confronted by overwhelming situations like Arjuna's where our beliefs and lives are in question, most of us regress back to the state when we felt something similar. Eric Berne states that a state of helplessness may cause regression back to childhood; to a position that he calls "I'm not ok" because typically toddlers may not know how to handle their basics needs, and not even have a medium to communicate this. While facing overwhelming dilemmas, we may fall back on the few things that we are sure about and this usually happens to be things that were nailed in our minds as children. Arjuna who grew up hearing things like adults have to be respected under all circumstances, clings to this advise as all his other beliefs are being tested this is one thing that makes him feel sane and safe. As he calms down, with his analytical and decisive skills (adult traits) in place he starts to absorb what Krishna says, and eventually gets ready to fulfill his kshatriya dharma.
Krishna’s advice
Nishkama karma and Sthitapragnya, explanation on Arjuna’s Dharma
Arjuna was in a dilemma before the battle of Kurukshetra. He did not want to go against his guru and family. Thus, Krishna, his mentor cleared all the doubts and questions in his mind. Arjuna was afraid that fighting his family would be considered as bad karma. Krishna told Arjuna that as a kshatriya it was his duty to fight for the truth and end the evil. Krishna prescribes a method of action called Nishkama karma yoga which releases one from the bondage of fruitive action and reaction while allowing one to pursue active sensory engagement. Nishkama karma is equal to, but easier than renouncing work. Thus when compared to renunciation of activity, Nishkama karma yoga incites less provocation of unrest and fall down.
Krishna consoles Arjuna by telling him to think about God and distracts his thoughts about the killing of the mortal bodies such as his uncles, brothers and grand-uncles on the field. Unless he would be fearless about destruction and the passing away of physical bodies, he would never be in a state of normalcy. Arjuna is told by Krishna that if he puts his bow and arrow down and flees from the battle, he would be known as a coward. This is because his ‘dharma’ or duty was that of a warrior. He is then reminded by Krishna that everybody must die at one point during battle but all souls are immortal.
Krishna points out to Arjuna that his Dharma is to be a warrior (kshatriya) whether he likes it or not. He cannot escape from his duties and his Dharma and he must fulfill it.
Previously, Arjuna argued that if he were to fight the Battle of Kurukshetra, he would be destroying dharma and incurring sin. This is because he would be killing several men who had a family whom they were responsible for. Hence, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that the truth is just the contrary. By not fighting the war, Arjuna would be rejecting dharma, in fact, his personal dharma and thus incurring sin. To quote Lord Krishna, “One’s own dharma, performed imperfectly, is better than another’s dharma well performed”.
Lord Krishna further explained Arjuna that by killing these men he would only be killing their mortal body and not their soul which is immortal. This led to Arjuna realising that he needed to fight in the war, because this war was not about him, it was about a concept, an idea of Dharma. Arjuna fights for what is right and just. He was not just a warrior for fighting’s sake. His Dharma was grounded and had a proper purpose.
Krishna explains to Arjuna the concept of Sthitaprajna. Sthitapragnya is the state of mind in transcendence. Stitha means fixed and pragnya means intelligence. Therefore one whose mind is fixed in dharma and the devotional service of the Lord is beyond the disturbances of external and material phenomenon. Satisfaction is the fundamental symptom of one practising Sthitapragnya. So the question is how does one attain this kind of transcendental consciousness?
In the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita Krishna tells Arjuna that when a man gives up all varieties of sense desire which arise from mental concoction, and when his mind finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness. This is explained precisely with an analogy of a tortoise. A man should utilize his senses only for practising dharma and devotional service. When there is no dharma to be performed by the senses, he withdraws them as a tortoise withdraws his limbs into a shell. In this way he is in full control of his senses, although he engages them in activities.
Arjuna's reason to fought the war
Just days before the battle started, Arjuna thought that fighting a battle was of no use as it would not matter if they won or lost because in the end they would be losing their family and friends. The prospect of killing his own blood makes him upset and makes him question Krishna whether that was necessary and if there was another way out of the situation. He asked Lord Krishna, "What would I gain by killing my family. Only evil would accrue him by killing those malefactors. He also quotes that "A place in hell is guaranteed for men who have set aside their family laws". According to Arjuna, if he kills them, he shall not live. All wars leave families shattered, and according to him warriors too have families. They don’t exist in vacuum. Lord Krishna managed to convince him to fight the battle of Kurukshetra. Arjuna wins the battle losing his family and son, Abhimanyu. The question that arises is, after all the bloodshed, did he really win the battle?
Should Arjuna have fought the war? In the history of the Mahabharata, the Kauravas have always been the ones who have wanted to attain the throne. However the question that arises is that, does wanting to achieve or acquiring the throne and ruling over the kingdom of Hastinapur as a whole make the Kauravas bad?
The Pandavas too were the rightful heir to the throne, however they were not autocratic or power thirsty dictators. This is where the problem arose. Right from the beginning when the Kauravas kept ridiculing the Pandavas, the Pandavas did nothing to retaliate. Arjuna was the ideal Kshatriya; he had the strength, vigour and the rationale to understand what was happening, however was weak hearted for witnessing gore and bloodshed.
Duryodhan and Shakuni, with deceit and manipulation deprived the Pandavas of the kingdom and did everything they could to keep the Pandavas at bay.Answering the question, yes, Arjuna should have fought the war and he did so rightly.
The Kauravas represented adharma or evil. Duryodhana was not a good ruler. When he was declared as the successor to the throne of Hastinapur, there was chaos in the kingdom. The people suffered under their rule. The Kauravas along with their uncle took away everything that the Pandavas had built. Duryodhana along with his brother Dushasana insults Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, in front of the entire court. Arjuna was a Kshatriya, he had to fulfil his dharma. His dharma as a Kshatriya was to fight a just battle and protect his people. He had to fulfil his ‘Samanya Dharma’, that is his duties towards the people. After his wife Draupadi was publicly humiliated, by Duryodhana and his brother Duhasana, the psychological trauma of hers and Arjuna’s created a thirst of vengeance for the Kauravas. This was the primary cause of the war. It was out of sheer vengeance.
However, the war was not started by Arjuna. Even before the Vanvaas and Agyatvas, there was a tension between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, victory always achieved by the latter. It was Duryodhana and Shakuni that were megalomaniac and Duryodhana believed that with the man power and the strong Kauravas by his side, he would win the war with sheer majority of power, and take over the kingdom. Arjuna was warned from the beginning by his teacher Dronacharya that “there will come a time where you will have to fight me” hinting him the Great War.
After everything that had been happening between the families, the war was inevitable. The 13 years of Vanvaas and Agyatvas had only delayed the inexorable, and it was essential for Arjuna to win the war for his subjects and people shielding them from the tyrannous Duryodhan and the Kauravas. According to Krishna, "Besides, considering your duty as a warrior, you should not waver. Indeed, for a warrior, there is no better engagement than fighting for upholding of righteousness.”
