Yoga of crisis!

 

“To win without fighting is best—though not always possible.”—Sun Tzu (The Art of War)

 

Both armies are arrayed and ready for combat. But before the war actually begins, Krishna pulls Arjuna's chariot into the middle of the battlefield, where the fabled bowman can see that on both sides there are friends, relatives, and countrymen. Arjuna becomes paralyzed with fear. He has second thoughts about committing to the massive war that lay ahead, in which no one can really win. And Krishna begins to speak, or, rather, to sing.

As the Gita opens, Arjuna is confronted with an existential dilemma. He has to deeply consider his identity, his purpose in life. He is faced with many of the same questions that eventually come to us all. Who am, What should I be doing? What is more important: occupation or family and friends? In Arjuna's case, the questions are all the more poignant for being asked on a battlefield, where life or death results from the answers.

 

In the midst of the emotional turmoil, he tells Krishna his initial decision: "Govinda [an intimate name for Krishna], I shall not fight" (2.9). Still, seeing his family and friends on the opposing side, as stated earlier, he is teed off.