Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 10. SPIRITUALISM, RELIGION AND POLITICS
same time. Not only I lose something with the death of my friend, I also lose when my enemy dies.
After all, even my enemy is as much part of my life as a friend is. So it is not good to be very inimical
to our enemies, because in some deeper sense even enemies are friends. In the same way, friends
are also enemies. Why is it so?
As I have been explaining to you these few days, the polarities into which we divide life are polarities
only in appearance, only in words and concepts; in reality they are not. There is no polarity at the
depth of life; there, all polarities are united, one. North and south, up and down are all united as
one.
If we see the basic unity of life, the war between Krishna and Arjuna will be easy to understand.
Otherwise it will be very difficult for us to accept. Even those who are thought to be authorities on
Krishna have found it difficult to explain this episode. It is difficult because our concepts and beliefs
immediately come in the way when we try to comprehend it. We believe that a friend should always
remain a friend and an enemy should remain an enemy. We break life into fragments and put the
fragments in fixed categories. But it is utterly wrong to do so. Life is fluid like a river, it is always
moving. You look at a wave this moment and the next moment it has moved far away. A wave that
was before your eyes in the morning will be hundreds of miles away by the evening of the same day.
On the road of life someone walks with you a few steps and then he parts company. All relationships
are transient; you cannot say how long anyone is going to be for or against you. Friends turn into
enemies and enemies into friends in a split second. So a person who lives his life like a river makes
neither friends nor foes; he accepts whatever life brings. If someone comes to him as a friend, he
is accepted as a friend, and if another person comes as a foe, he too is accepted. He chooses
nothing; he rejects nothing.
To Krishna no one is his friend and no one is his enemy. Time decides; circumstances create both
friends and foes. And Krishna has no grievance against anybody. It is amazing that while Krishna
is on the side of the Pandavas, his whole army is on the other side – the side of the Kauravas.
He divides and distributes himself between the two warring camps, because both of them accept
Krishna as their friend. The chiefs of both camps arrive at Krishna’s place at the same time to ask for
his support and cooperation in the war that is imminent, and Krishna gives each of them a choice.
He tells them, ”Since both of you are my friends – and fortunately you come to me at the same
time – I offer that I will personally be on one side and my forces will be on the other side. You can
choose.” It is something incredible.
Question 13
QUESTIONER: KRISHNA COULD ALSO SAY THAT SINCE BOTH OF THEM ARE HIS FRIENDS
HE IS NOT GOING TO FIGHT ON ANY SIDE.
He could not say so, because the war of the Mahabharat is going to be such a great and decisive
event that Krishna’s participation in it is essential. Perhaps the Mahabharat would not be possible
without Krishna. Secondly, it would be dishonest of him to tell friends that he would be neutral in the
way India is currently neutral, non-aligned in international affairs.
Neutrality has no place in life; it may be an inner feeling, but in day-to-day life neutrality is
meaningless. One has to take sides – either this side or that. Of course, one can pretend to
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 193 Osho