The authors of The Bhagavad-Gita care about duty – the duty between being a man, and a spiritual being. This duty can be contradictory at times, like during a battle. We see Arjuna fighting with this split of duty – he is torn between being what a man should be, and being a spiritual creature.
Arjuna desires to be a man who fulfills the battle-hardened requirements any man at this time should. He wants to win glory for his name, and his people. He wants to be a hero who goes down in history (much like Gilgamesh…). He yearns for all this, yet one problem stands in his way: the men whom he must fight are relatives. This poses the other issue of spirituality. He is a man who must follow what the gods have decreed. This decree is to not kill family. So Arjuna is torn between fulfilling what society requires him to do, and what the gods/spirituality requires him to do.
Lucky for Arjuna, his wise charioteer, Krishna, is there to give him counsel. Krishna reminds Arjuna of what else the gods said: “Death is certain for anyone born, and birth is certain for the dead;…the cycle is inevitable…” (35). What Krishna is saying, is that reincarnation will happen no matter what, so even if Arjuna must kill a family member, he is not truly dying; for he will be reborn, and life will continue. Therefore, Arjuna is encouraged to fulfill his mortal destiny and his spiritual destiny will be taken care of.
The authors show this very well. Their message is: fulfill your mortal destiny, even if it causes you grief; for your spiritual life is already taken care of. This lesson is something I believe we could all learn from.
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