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

CHAPTER 4. RELIGION HAS NO HISTORY, IT IS ETERNAL
The whole of the GEETA is an effort to remind you who you are.
Because Arjuna eventually agrees to fight after what Krishna has to say, you are inclined to think
Krishna imposed his will on him. But this is a travesty of the truth. Krishna has no desires of his
own; he is totally desireless. His desirelessness is superb and self evident. It is total.
In the war of Mahabharat Krishna alone is on the side of the Pandavas, while his whole army is on
the other side, on the enemy side. Is this the way to fight a war, where your own army is on the side
of those you are opposing? While Krishna is on the side of the Pandavas, his own army, his entire
army is fighting from the side of the Kauravas.
It is a rare event in the entire history of war, in the whole history of mankind. And if this is the way
a war should be fought then all other wars and warriors are wrong. Can you imagine Hitler would
agree his army should fight on the side of the Allies, his enemies? Impossible. Armies are meant to
fight for those who create and own them; there is no other meaning of an army. A belligerent’s mind
does every thing to see that all of his resources are used to help him win the war.
The Mahabharat is a weird kind of war, where Krishna is on one side and the whole of his own army
on the side of the enemy. Obviously this man does not seem to relish fighting. He is certainly not a
hawk, not a warmonger. He has no stake in war, but he is not an escapist either. Since a state of
war is there, he offers himself to the Pandavas and his army to the Kauravas so that you don’t blame
him later. It is an extraordinary situation in which Krishna puts himself. Really, the structure of his
whole makeup, his individuality, is unique.
And the Mahabharat itself is an exceedingly uncommon kind of war where, as fighting stops every
evening, people from both sides get together, exchange pleasantries, inquire about one another and
pay condolences to the bereaved. It does not seem to be a war between enemies, it looks like a play
that has to be played, a drama that has to be enacted, an inevitable destiny that has to be accepted
happily. Not a trace of enmity can be found after sunset when the two enemies visit each other,
chit-chat and play together, and even drink and dine together.
Not only Krishna, there are many others who find themselves in the same strange situation.
Members of the same family have divided themselves and joined the two warring camps; even
intimate friends find themselves on opposite sides of the battlefield. And what is most amazing is
that, after the war ends, Krishna sends the Pandava brothers to Bhisma to take a lesson in peace
from him – from Bhisma, who is the top general of the Kauravas’ army, their commander-in-chief.
They have to take a lesson in peace from the general of the enemy’s forces, and they sit at his
feet as his disciples. And Bhisma’s message is known as the chapter on peace in the epic of the
Mahabharat. It is amazing, it is miraculous that one goes to the enemy to learn about peace. An
enemy is a lesson in war, not peace, and you need not go to him to take a lesson. But here Bhisma
teaches them the secrets of peace and righteousness.
It is certainly not an ordinary war; it is extra ordinarily extraordinary. And the soldiers of this war are
not ordinary soldiers. That is why the GEETA calls it a dharma-yuddha, a righteous war, a religious
war. And there is a very good reason to call it so.
Krishna does not deliver the GEETA with a view to persuading Arjuna to fight. No, he delivers it only
to reveal to him his true nature, the nature of a warrior.
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 80 Osho