Tag Archives: Arjuna

The Family Feud

The Bhagavad Gita is a majestic poem within the larger Mahabharata, an epic whose length defies any present-day imagination. It is a comprisal of a narrative set within the larger framework of Philosophical Mysticism. Its tone is one of crisis on an epic scale—one that constitutes the incessant war that is waged within the inner-battleground of the embodied enslavement of man’s Spiritual Composition. Although based on actual ancient warfare taking place nearby modern-day Delhi, its account is more archetypical and allegorical in nature, one that encompasses the full scope of the human condition—one that is inflicted with both external and internal turmoil. This cosmic-drama revolves around an ancient family-feud. It involves a dispute between cousins over who was to rule the Kuruksetra kingdom located in central India. At one time the kingdom belonged to five brothers of the Pāndavas family, but they lost their rule during a dice-game and ceded their kingdom over to their shady-cousins who were the hundred sons of a blind king named Dhrtarāstra. Originally the latter family was to return the kingdom over to its rightful ownership after some length of time, but due to their devious nature totally reneged on their promise. Therefore, the Pāndavas had to wage war to reclaim their rightful property. The problem was, though, being cousins both sides had once shared the same teachers and advisers—the very same ones who were now being called upon to advise them in time of war; accompanied with this precarious predicament was the fact that both sides would be facing beloved family members and friends who would be killed due to this ongoing clash. Hence we now arrive at the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita just before the huge battle was to be waged. We find the main protagonist of the Gita, Arjuna, agonizing within himself over his responsibility as a noble war-lord to do his duty, yet having to “do-in” his own family and friends as part of this obligation. read more