Sunday, September 16, 2007

6. The Bhagavad Gita

In the Hindu classic, Bhagavad Gita, the Lord appears to the warrior Arjuna on the battlefield, teaching the philosophy of devotion: not to make him a pacifist, but a better soldier. For that is his duty, his Dharma, and to fulfill one's Dharma with devotion the path to salvation. But this warrior path is only righteous when the war is just, preserving the order of civilization. That is the Gita's teaching, studied by these soldiers.

"Krishna delivers this teaching to Arjuna; a soldier, because Arjuna is struggling with the fact that the upcoming battle is pointless and that no good can come of it. Krishna is telling Arjuna that he can neither destroy nor be destroyed as ultimately everything we perceive to be real is just like a dream.

"Krishna also reminds Arjuna of his place in this world or caste as a soldier or Kshatriyas, and that his duty in this life is to fight, thereby avoiding Karma, the force that binds us to an endless cycle of reincarnation.

"As a soldier who has seen battle, I was very interested in this passage and read it many times. In every firefight I have been in I entered a state of mind which I can only describe as blankness. I never worried about dying or killing: it was my job and it was no more a significant event than shaving. Many of my soldiers have experienced this same feeling. It is interesting to me that the heart of what Krishna is teaching to Arjuna is that he should be free from worry and just fight because he is a soldier, as I have felt this way and seen it in many of my soldiers as well."