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unlawfully took possession of the entire kingdom of the
Paandavas and refused to give back even an acre of land without a
war. All mediation by Lord Krishna and others failed. The big war of
Mahaabhaarata was thus started. The Paandavas were unwilling
participants. They had only two choices: fight for their right as a
matter of duty or run away from war and accept defeat in the name of
peace and nonviolence.
Arjuna, one of the five Paandava
brothers, faced the dilemma in the battle field whether to fight or
run away from war for the sake of peace. Arjuna's dilemma is, in
reality, the universal dilemma. Every human being faces dilemmas,
big or small, in their everyday life in course of performing their
duties. Arjuna's dilemma was the biggest of all.
He had to make a choice between fighting
the war and killing his most revered guru, very dear friends, close
relatives, and many innocent warriors or running away from the
battle field for the sake of preserving the peace and nonviolence.
The entire seven hundred verses of the Gita is a discourse between
Lord Krishna and the confused Arjuna in the battle field of
Kurukshetra near Delhi, India, about 5,000 years ago.
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