My Gita

by Devdutt Pattanaik

Arjuna feels that if he withdraws from the battle, all problems will be resolved and there will be peace. However, not fighting a war does not tackle the underlying hunger and fear. It simply denies and suppresses the hunger and fear and the consequent rage, which then ends up festering secretly as people ‘pretend’, awaiting to explode more intensely at a later date. Outer peace does not guarantee inner peace. Further, it does not take into consideration the other’s thoughts and feelings. Arjuna’s desire for peace, howsoever noble, may not be shared by Bhima or Duryodhana, who are ready for war. Forcing his noble view on them would be judgement, devoid of empathy, hence adharma. Arjuna may not want to do yagna, but he cannot stop others from doing so. Our decision to act or not act cannot be insensitive to the feelings of those around us. Hence, any discussion on yagna is complemented with discussions on yoga. While yagna focusses on tangible giving and getting, yoga focusses on discovering intangible thoughts and emotions of the yajamana as well as the devata, the boundaries that we create and use to include some as family and exclude others as enemy.