Acharya Prashant: Where Arjun was standing, Krishna could see that the right action for him was to fight.
Remember that it is already a battleground. Remember that Krishna himself has tried the utmost to avert war. He himself has gone as a messenger to the court of Duryodhana and tried his best. Now all that is behind. Now the armies are facing each other, and you must fight. That is the demand of the moment, that is the appropriate action of the moment. Krishna was not all the time advising Arjun to fight. Krishna was not saying to Arjun, “Arjun, under all situations it is your duty to fight.” At that moment, now, the right action is that you pick up your bow and arrow and?
Questioner: Fight.
Acharya Prashant: Fight. Two days before the war had there been a reconciliatory offer, Krishna would have accepted it. He had told the court that just five villages will be sufficient for the Pandavas. You keep the rest of the Kingdom. It is not as if fighting was always a duty. Because Krishna is not someone who would deal in duties. He deals in the right action for the moment. Before the war, the right action is—‘Please try to prevent war’. War means a lot of suffering. So, that was the right action. He was trying his best that war must not happen.
On the battlefield now you cannot act like a peacenik. Now you have to be an eagle, not a dove. Now you must fight. The days of talking peace are behind you. Now you must fight. So, what Krishna is talking about is not predestined, pre-scripted duty. He is talking about the right action at that moment. At that moment, it is not a duty. It is not a duty.
