In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna tells Arjuna, “Give up everything and come to my feet.”
What does Krishna mean by this? When he says, “Give up everything and come to my feet.” By this he means that you have to set aside your feelings and go towards the feet of life itself. Do not run away, you should accept life as it is.
Krishna tells Arjuna to fight but he laments. He refuses to fight and is full of sorrow and compassion. He says, “I don’t want to kill, I would rather commit suicide than kill my friends, family, relatives and teachers who are on the other side of the battlefield.”
If you are religious you may argue that Arjuna is filled with a sense of righteousness. That he is a sage, a man of wisdom. But Krishna tells him otherwise, “Your sense of religion has left you, you have gone mad."
He tells Arjuna, “You are mad if you think you can kill someone, as no-one ever dies. You are mistaken to think that you can save those who oppose you. Who has ever saved anyone? And you can’t escape war nor can you be non-violent because as long as I exists – and it is this I that is anxious to save itself and it’s friends, family, relatives and teachers – non violence is next to impossible. Now, be rid of this nonsense and face reality. Set aside your sense of I and fight. Accept what is facing you and what is facing you is not a temple where prayers are uttered, it is war. Play your part, and so drop your I. Who are you?”
