Sri Krishna in the Mahabharata

Sri Krishna bas been portrayed in our Puranas in many aspects of life. His pranks and exploits as a boy have always commanded the love of the Hindus. His life as a cowherd has had a special appeal to the peasantry and the common people. The divine music of his flute has captivated artistes for many centuries. He is the ideal lover, the beloved of men and women. The Lord's Song has been at once the delight, the solace and the guide of the metaphysician, the devotee and the man of action. Affectionate towards friends, sage in counsel, shrewd in his judgment of men and events, and unconquerable in battle, his is indeed a unique character.

One feels, however, that in his conception of Sri Krishna's part in the Mahabharata, Veda Vyasa has achieved a profound purpose which is not often noticed. When the clash of arms became imminent, and the combatants approached Sri Krishna for his assistance, he placed a choice before them which is arrestingly significant. ‘One of you will have my armies, and the other will have me, unarmed and as a non-combatant.’ Duryodhana foolishly chose the armies and Arjuna was delighted to have the guiding protection of Sri Krishna. From this incident onwards emerges clearly–what has indeed been true all along–the fact that Sri Krishna takes no direct or visible part in the events of the Mahabharata war. Even when his beloved nephew, Abhimanyu, is cruelly murdered, he does not exhibit any emotion of grief or sorrow; nor is he stirred to any action. Superficially, it looks as if the whole of the war would have gone on in the same manner, even if Sri Krishna was not present in the battle-field as Arjuna's charioteer. But if one looks a little deeper, one is struck by the fact that, unobtrusively, it is really Krishna’s hand that guides not only the progress of the war, but also every one of its incidents. It is He that gives forewarnings of events to come. He puts courage into the faint-hearted. He counsels the plan of campaign. He resolves nice points of morality that arise on the battlefield. He decides the particular weapons to be used on critical occasions.

One can discern that it is indeed. His plan that led to and culminated in the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas, though, here again, the working of His design are hidden behind the apparently free choice of the persons concerned. If it is remembered that Sri Krishna was regarded by the author of the Mahabharata as an Incarnation of God, the inference that, in Sri Krishna's conduct throughout the Mahabharata events, Veda Vyasa was attempting to parallel God's plan in human affairs appears to be more than a mere fancy. A little thinking is enough to convince us that while apparently wehuman beings, consciously determine the course of our conduct, it is really the Divine hand that guides the events that shape our lives. The circumstances of our birth, our position in society, the propitious environment that is necessary for the successful termination of any of our adventures, our instinctive likes and dislikes towards our fellows–the outpourings of genius–these and all other really determining factors in human lives, are things beyond the limited scope of human option and can only be attributed to the Divine Architect. And it looks as if the author of the Mahabharata was exhibiting in Sri Krishna's life God's ways to man.