Some people allege that Krishna was a warmonger who goaded Arjuna into fighting. 

If Krishna had been a warmonger, why would he have personally gone with a peace proposal to Duryodhana? And Krishna’s proposal wasn’t just for optics; in the Kuru assembly, he sought peace resourcefully. 

First, Krishna presented his proposal to the king Dhritarashtra, as etiquette required. When the king soon admitted that he didn’t need any persuading — it was his son Duryodhana who needed to be persuaded — Krishna explained to Duryodhana the rationale for peace systematically. He outlined the many benefits for the Kuru kingdom of having an alliance with the powerful Pandavas, who after all belonged to the same dynasty. Then, he outlined the futility, even the folly, of fighting the Pandavas — just one of them, Arjuna, had defeated armies far more powerful than the Kaurava army: an army of the demons and even an army of the gods. 

Seeing Duryodhana still recalcitrant, Krishna made an incredibly accommodating offer: instead of half of the kingdom, just give the Pandavas five villages so that they could do their duty as kshatriya, at least symbolically. Derisively dismissing Krishna’s proposal, Duryodhana retorted that he wouldn’t give enough land to even put the tip of a needle through. On top of that, he even tried to arrest Krishna, thus egregiously violating the most basic martial codes about how to treat peace messengers. 

By his actions, Duryodhana unwittingly demonstrated for everyone to see that he was the real warmonger. The world wouldn’t have known peace as long as he was in power, driven by his greed for kingdom and his envy for the Pandavas. It was to free the world from such a vicious power-grabber that Krishna wanted Arjuna to do his duty of fighting. To illuminate Arjuna about his duty, Krishna spoke the Gita. 

One-sentence summary: 

Krishna spoke the Gita not because he was a warmonger, but because war was the only way to stop the real warmonger, Duryodhana. 

Think it over: 

  • How do Krishna’s actions show that he was not a warmonger? 
  • How did the events at Hastinapura reveal who the real warmonger was? 
  • Why did Krishna speak the Gita? 

02.10: O descendant of Bharata, at that time Krishna, smiling, in the midst of both the armies, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna.

Was Krishna a warmonger?

To know more about this verse, please click on the image