Questioner (Q): Arjuna trembles when he looks at his kin in the battlefield and thinks of the consequences the war will have on everyone he is related to. While I can relate to him conceptually, one rarely has a situation of this scale in front of him in one’s day-to-day life, where it is a matter of life and death.
You have always said that we are all Arjunas. Please help me understand the gravity of this statement. Do you mean that the seemingly small events of our day-to-day life too are a matter of life and death?
Acharya Prashant (AP): Yes, obviously. You see, Arjuna being present in a battlefield appears a special event to you because you are not a warrior belonging to that era. Is presence in the battlefield really an extraordinary event for Arjuna? That's his normal day-to-day life, isn't it? Yes, it's a bit out of the ordinary in the sense that today he is set against his own relatives, but even that is not happening for the first time.
Half a dozen times previously, Arjuna has fought many of the warriors who are today lined up against him. And many of those who are today standing against him have sometimes been on Arjuna's side. Conversely, a few of those who are on Arjuna's side today have sometimes been against Arjuna. So there is nothing extraordinary in Arjuna's situation for Arjuna.
But you are a householder; you are not a Kshatriya warrior. So, when you look at Arjuna, you feel, "Oh, such an extraordinary situation. Family members’ gang war; gangs of Hastinapur. Too bad." For you, it is extremely abnormal. For Arjuna it is not; it's a bread and butter thing. "Yeah, where is the bow? Where is the arrow? Who is to be shot?" That's what Kshatriyas are supposed to do every day.
So, it is in that normal situation that Arjuna experiences a dilemma for the first time—a kind of dilemma that no other warrior is experiencing. In fact, the others must be getting frustrated and bored and puzzled. "What the hell is happening to this Arjuna chap? Come on dude, fight! Let's just finish this off. Either I get killed, or you get killed. Just chill."
It's a day-to-day bread and butter thing; somebody has to get killed. Look at all the people present on the battlefield. Nobody is carrying a virgin sword. All have blood on their hands. There is nobody there who has not killed at least a dozen people in his lifetime. So, it's a run-of-the-mill, day-to-day affair. It's like a normal to-do list. Eat, sleep, kill.
"How many killed today? Was it eight or nine? My memory is failing me. Oh, it was actually twelve! Three of the buggers I don't even remember. Just killed them and forgot." It's a day-to-day thing.
It's the day-to-day thing that carries the poison and the sting; better watch out. Arjuna's hell was in his day-to-day activities, your hell too lies in your day-to-day activities. Arjuna could sense the evil in what appeared normal to the others, you must also be able to sense that there is something extremely fishy in what appears normal to others.
Do not get into false equations. Do not say, "Oh, I too will call for Krishna when I am on the battlefield of Kurukshetra!" You will never find yourself in Kurukshetra. Kurukshetra today is a well-developed urban area. Who will allow you to fight there—that too with bows and arrows? They won't even put you in jail; they'll put you in an asylum. That's the reward of those who seek to emulate.
Think of this fellow. From somewhere he has gathered five or seven emaciated horses, tied them to some kind of a chariot from a circus that shut down. I mean, there are all kinds of auctions. Bumba Circus shutting down, and they are auctioning a chariot. This fellow is an avid Arjuna fan. He manages to get it in all of Rs. 56 and then sets off for Kurukshetra carrying a bow and an arrow. The bow and arrow are relics of his ancient past.
When he used to stay in Budaun, then there was the Dussehra Mela (Hindu festival), and from there once his uncle had bought him the bow and the arrow. And the bugger now digs the old family treasure out—the bow and the arrow—sits on his wanted vehicle, and sets off. He is emulating Arjuna and expecting that Krishna would be waiting there for him over a cup of cappuccino. It will take a lot to get this fellow bailed out, I tell you. No advocate will be prepared to take him as a client.
You will never get those conditions again.
Your house is Kurukshetra; your workplace is Kurukshetra; your shop, your society is Kurukshetra. That's your Kurukshetra. That which appears ordinary and normal and day-to-day to you, is your Kurukshetra. That's where you have to fight your Mahabharat.
That's where you need Krishna.
That's where you need Gita.
