Did Krishna’s lifting a wheel to attack Bhishma not break his vow?
So doesn't Krishna use a chariot wheel to attack someone in the Kurukshetra war so when did this happen and was this a violation of the war code yes this happens on the 9th evening 9th day in the evening at that time Bhishma has been goaded 9th day star Bhishma has been repeatedly goaded by Duryodhana he says you are partial to the Pandavas that's why you are not fighting wholeheartedly so at that time Bhishma gets very angry and he says by tonight either Arjuna will be dead or Krishna will have to raise a weapon to to protect Arjuna now Bhishma actually the Mahabharata is understood at various levels at an external level Bhishma and Arjuna are fighters and they are enemies and Krishna is on the side of Arjuna but at a higher transcendental level Bhishma is also a devotee Krishna is also Arjuna is also a devotee and Krishna is their lord so here when Bhishma takes this vow even when he takes this vow he knows that I will not be able to kill Arjuna and he is eager in his own transcendental way to see how Krishna will protect Arjuna and he that day he fights so ferociously not because he is angry not because he hates Arjuna because he is so eager what will Krishna do to protect his devotees that eagerness animates his fighting and he keeps fighting fighting fighting it seems as if he is going to destroy the whole Pandava army on that day and Arjuna is still thinking this is my grandfather Arjuna is not fighting wholeheartedly so then then Arjuna is not fighting wholeheartedly and Bhishma is fighting furiously it is not an equal match and Arjuna is being overcome so at that time Krishna he several times tries to inspire Arjuna to fight but Arjuna does not have his heart is not in the fight so at that time Krishna sees that Arjuna is going to be killed now by Bhishma this cannot happen so Krishna just looks around and he sees nearby there is a chariot wheel and he just jumps off his chariot and suddenly Arjuna sees oh my chariot has stopped Krishna has disappeared and what happened and he sees Krishna has just run across picked up the chariot wheel and he picks up the chariot wheel and raises it up and charges towards Bhishma and Bhishma is delighted Bhishma just puts aside his bow and says come Keshava death at your hands will be the perfection of my life now Krishna is not actually in a devotional mood here Krishna says you are the root of this war Krishna is so angry he says if a king goes on the wrong track it is the duty of the minister to stop the king because you as the minister of Dhritarashtra did not stop Dhritarashtra therefore you deserve to be killed and Krishna is shouting this and as he is shouting he is charging towards Bhishma and Bhishma says I tried my best but Bhishma did not Dhritarashtra did not listen to me he was simply a puppet in the hands of Duryodhana but if you feel me culpable please kill me oh Keshava and Bhishma just puts aside his bow and arrow and Arjuna is stunned initially to see Krishna streaking across the war field then he feels mortified he says no because I did not fight whole heartedly so Krishna has lifted a chariot wheel chariot wheel is technically not a weapon but still critics will say that Krishna lifted a weapon and he does not want Krishna to be criticized so he just Krishna stop but Krishna is so angry Krishna is so angered by his concern for his devotees that Krishna does not hear anything so Arjuna jumps off his chariot and starts running now Krishna is it's a big chariot wheel and Krishna is running with the chariot wheel because of the weight of the chariot wheel Krishna does not run very fast so Arjuna runs fast and is calling out to Krishna stop stop Krishna does not listen now actually Krishna when he sees the chariot wheel he remembers his Sudarshan Chakra he does not have a Sudarshan Chakra but that reminds him of Sudarshan Chakra and he is about to throw it from where it is there but then he says this is not a Sudarshan Chakra and he is so concerned that Arjuna be protected that he does not want to take any risk that's like if you want to shoot someone from a distance you might miss the target you go close and then shoot there is no chance of missing the target that's why Krishna picks up the chariot wheel first he wants to throw the chariot wheel from there only but then he thinks what if I miss so then he charges across the battlefield to come to Bhishma and from close quarters he wants to fling the chariot wheel then Arjuna runs after Krishna and Krishna still does not hear Arjuna is close to him and catches Krishna by the thigh and tries to stop Krishna but Krishna is so angry that by his momentum he just drags Arjuna along and by this time they have gone across half the battlefield and everybody is watching this marvel and finally Arjuna is saying Krishna stop Krishna is not listening then Arjuna picks his huge feet picks up his feet and bangs them on the ground and as he bangs them on the ground his feet create a hole in the ground and as he creates a hole in the ground his feet go inside that hole and then Krishna is running and Arjuna's feet are caught in the ground and Krishna stops and then Krishna tells Krishna Krishna please stop you don't have to raise a weapon I will fight tomorrow I will fight and tomorrow I will kill Bhishma and when Krishna Krishna hears Arjuna speaking this Krishna calms down and then Krishna turns around and by that time the sun goes on the horizon so on that day when Krishna raises a weapon so it is described that Krishna so Bhishma Pitamah is praying that Krishna had a choice on that day that whose word is more important Krishna's word was that I will not lift any weapon Bhishma's word was that either I will kill Arjuna or I will make Krishna lift a weapon so on this day we could say that Krishna protected Arjuna and for the sake of protecting Arjuna Krishna broke his own word that is true and that so Krishna he takes a promise seriously but he takes the protection of his devotees even more seriously and for that purpose he broke this word and he lifted a weapon not technically a weapon but still he lifted a chariot to me but Bhishma Pitamah has a very devotional way of looking at it and he says that Krishna lifted the bow not to protect Arjuna but to protect my word so this is such a wonderful prayer that Bhishma offers when he is about to die in the 9th chapter of the 1st canto of Srimad Bhagavatam it says he gets off his chariot and as he gets off his chariot his angavastra falls off his hair is disarrayed and he is charging towards me and this is such an extraordinary vision of devotion normally you know sometimes if a person is a target of a murderous attack then people get trauma after that oh that person was coming with the gun pointed towards me he could have shot me at any moment and somehow I survived and people want to forget that because otherwise it causes trauma but here Bhishma he is saying that lord who is charging towards me with a wheel raised high about to kill me let me remember that lord constantly why? because this vision although externally it is furious he is angry and he is about to kill me internally this vision remonstrates the lord's love his love for Arjuna and his love for Bhishma both therefore he is saying I want to die thinking of this bhagvati uttirasthu me I am more sure and to this lord let me remember me and let me give up this body so this is Krishna's bhakta vatsalya that he is ready to give up his world for the sake of protecting the life and for protecting the world of his devotee so shall we stop here thank you very much Bhagavad Gita.