Arjunus' dilemma is simply that, although he believes his cause to be right and just, he also knows that many good people will die in battle (and that he will have to kill many of them.)
"As Arjuna and Krishna see the armies on the two sides and reflect on the gigantic battle that is about to begin, Arjuna asks whether all this is worth it. He does not doubt that theirs is the right cause, and
that this is a just war, and also that his side will definitely win the battle given its relative strength-not least because of AIjuna's own remark able skills as a warrior and a general. But, Arjt.l1a observes, so many people will die in this battle. He also recognizes that he himself will have to kill masses of people. Aljuna also notes that many people who
will be killed, on both sides, are persons for whom he has affection, and many of them have done nothing that is particularly disreputable other than agreeing (often out of kinship loyalties or other ties) to back one side or. the other in this great subcontinental battle.
Aljuna tells Krishna that he does not want to fight, and that maybe they should simply let the unjust Kauravas rule the kingdom they. have usurped, which may be the lesser of the two evils. Krishna argues against this, and his response takes the form of articulating principles of action that have been repeated again and again in Indian moral
philosophy. Indeed, with Krishna's gradual transformation from being a noble but partisan patron of the Pandavas in the epic to being
an incarnation of God, as he is in later Hinduism, the conversation with AIjuna has become a document of great theological importance,
called the Bhagavadgeeta,or the Geeta for short.
Krishna points to Arjuna's duty to fight, irrespective of his evaluation of the consequences. It is a just cause, and as a warrior and a general on whom his side must rely, he cannot waver from his
obligations (no matter what results from that). Krishna's high deontology has been-deeply influential in moral debates in the subsequent
millennia. It is, I suppose, a tribute to the power of pure theory that even Mahatma Gandhi -no
less- felt deeply inspired by Krishna's words on doing one's duty irrespective of consequences, even though the duty in this case was for Arjuna to fight a violent war (not in general a cause to which Gandhi could be expected to approve of.)
2007-06-03 10:51:28
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answer #1
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answered by johnslat 7
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Well, simply put, the people across the battlefield were people he respected and admired. Some of them were his family. Some were his teachers. There were good people there as well as bad. He didn't want to kill them. This was what caused his hesitation.
2007-06-03 19:17:23
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answer #2
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answered by krithi 3
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I did about 14 seconds of research and found many sites answering this question. Try it.
2007-06-03 17:47:29
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answer #3
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answered by Anonymous
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