Karma and the Bhagavad-Gita

The Bhagavad-Gita is an epic story taken from the sacred text of the Hindu, the Mahabharata. The sacred story, often referred to as simply the Gita, begins with observing two opposing armies on the battlefield awaiting an epic battle. Arjuna, the central figure in the Gita, gazes out over the battlefield and observes soldiers on both sides. Arjuna starts noticing both armies are filled with his family and friends. Arjuna then begins to wonder if the battle should commence. Arjuna’s chariot driver, Krishna, begins to counsel him on aspects of karma and religion. Krishna was actually an embodiment of Vishnu, who appeared to guide Arjuna through this impasse. This dilemma posed the question, does in-action bring about more results than action through an unpleasant experience?

Arjuna faced a dilemma which brought into question whether he should follow his duty to his country and fight, or save his kinsman from certain death. Arjuna is caught between his duties of being a warrior and being a faithful follower to the deities of Hindu. Arjuna must fight to reestablish karma. Krishna insisted Arjuna follow his duty to “fight the battle.” Arjuna would not be committing a sin by killing his enemies on the battlefield. Krishna explains there is a cycle between life and death, where the soul is never born nor dies. Arjuna is instructed not to mourn the death of the body, because the soul is eternal. If Arjuna refuses to kill his battlefield enemies, he would be upsetting the cycle of karma by not allowing the soul to pass from physical being through the cycle of rebirth.

There are very significant reasons why Krishna tells Arjuna to “fight the battle.” The most important aspect would be lost if the battle were not fought. The continuatio...

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...mental effects to those processes. There are numerous examples of where this dilemma would pose the question of whether to perform an unpleasant act or do nothing at all. One example that would be the passengers of Flight 93, who decided to attack the hijackers onboard. They knew their actions would lead to death, but this unpleasantness was outweighed by the duty to other potential victims.

The Gita is an epic story that presented the question, whether action should be taken with an unpleasant experience or should no action be taken to avoid the unpleasant experience. Inaction results in the disruption of natural and supernatural processes lead to detrimental impacts. These processes, as outlined in the Gita, are necessary for the birth and rebirth of physical bodies and the path to enlightenment that all Hindu sought to progress to utilizing the cycles of karma.