Violence is too small a weapon against evil
When anti-social elements brutalize innocents, some people declare that violence is essential to counter such terrorists. Others say that violence is not the answer – [...]
Matter has no intent, but intent matters
Some people misconceive the Gita as a violence-inducing book in which God goads a peace-seeking person to fight. They laud Arjuna when he, instead of [...]
Enter the war, but don’t let the war enter you
“How can one act without being bound?” This is Arjuna’s essential question at the start of the Bhagavad-gita. And the whole Gita addresses it at [...]
The Gita’s choice is not about nonviolence or violence – it’s about disintegration or integration
The Bhagavad-gita’s asking Arjuna to fight understandably unnerves many people. Though the Gita’s framing narrative involves choosing violence over nonviolence, its core is far deeper. [...]
See beyond the diversity of forms to the unity of substance and purpose
Racial, religious and other forms of sectarian violence rend the world today. Such violence may have complex social, economic, cultural and political causes, but underlying [...]
Nonviolence that allows exploiters to become rulers is violence
Many people feel uncomfortable with the idea of a religious book, the Bhagavad-gita, urging war. They would probably be surprised to find their feelings echoed [...]
Peace bought at the cost of justice can be the worst violence
Some people ask, “The Bhagavad-gita is said to be a spiritual book, yet it endorses violence. Isn’t that anti-spiritual?” No, because the Gita is a [...]
Cry, Vie, Lie, Die, Fie – Tie
The Bhagavad-gita (16.7-20) describes the mentality of the godless materialists who ruin themselves and those around them by their inordinate infatuation with temporary things. Their [...]