Choose the good when… Gita 02.49

From the bad but not when it deprives you of the best in our life we have to constantly make choices and now the choices come within a particular context and what is a good or a bad choice depends on the context say for example if we have two deals available one is a bad deal and one is a good deal then obviously we should choose the good deal but if the options were a good deal and a best deal say we get a low quality product for a high price and we get a high quality product for a high price then we obviously choose the second one but if we are ready we can get a high quality product for a low price and that's the best deal so we need to choose the good judiciously we can't reject the good always we're hoping for and waiting for the best if we need to choose now we have to choose and better to choose the good than the bad but just because we have chosen the good in the past doesn't mean we have to keep choosing the good always because if the context changes and then the good we have to choose not against the bad but instead of the best then we are losing so this dynamism of the context of our choices needs to be kept in mind and this is what the Bhagavad Gita tells Arjuna for Arjuna when he has to he is confronted with a choice should he fight a war or should he not fight a war now non-violence might seem always better why cause bloodshed violence involves bloodshed especially sharing the blood of his relatives that's quite a ghastly option for him so he is thinking that fighting is bad and not fighting is good so he is thinking this not fighting is going to save him from the option of fighting for gaining a kingdom for a selfish gain if those were the options then certainly Arjuna's not fighting would have been better so the path of non-violence is always to be considered and explored before jumping into violence but sometimes that is not the option at all the option was for him he had to do that which was the best that is because he was a martial guardian of society he had the duty to protect citizens from atrocious rulers and especially because Krishna was with him he could do that in devotional consciousness and thereby he would establish dharma in the world and he would become himself absorbed in prema for the lord in love for the lord so this was the best option now working for Krishna in whatever way, if it involves fighting that's also fine that's also sometimes required so he Krishna guided him to expand the context of his choices that his choice was not between good and bad at this particular point it was between good and the best and when Arjuna became enlightened he chose the best so we too need to be dynamic and we can't always hold on to the good always hold on to the good reject the good hoping for the best but we can't persist with the good neglecting the best so according to context when we make our choices we can choose wisely and progress steadily thank you.