Gita 01.36 The ethical tension between kula-dharma and kshatriya-dharma leads to emotional over-reaction and physical inaction

Bhagavad Gita 1.36 Arjuna is now continuing his reasoning to explain why he doesn't want to fight he said we will be overcome by sin if we kill these aggressors therefore I feel I should not kill them and then concluded the argument by saying by killing one's own people how can I be happy in every decision that we make there are multiple factors to be considered when we are driving sometimes the route is very clear if we turn right we go towards the destination, if we turn left we go away from the destination so that time taking the right decision is relatively easy but suppose we are going to a distant place and there are 2-3 different routes and each of the routes is showing relatively comparable timings right now when we look at it then we have to decide which route to take so it requires much more thought because we may consider right now it is showing this time but this route is going to have more traffic later so maybe I should take that route so if you understand this then we move onwards in the next step towards the assessment of other factors what about traffic what about if we are also going on a tourist ride so are there any good sites along the way that we can see is the road bumpy or smooth so when multiple factors need to be considered then making decisions becomes that much more difficult so that is what is happening here whereby people where you have to consider what exactly we have to do in our lives so Arjun is now considering that he has to fight because he knows that they are aggressors Kauravas are that they are aggressors and against such aggressors counter aggression may well be required if one is to move forwards in one's life and attain success because such aggressors can destroy everything and there is not only nothing wrong in fighting against aggressors it may be well right and necessary to fight against them otherwise they will ruin our lives they will ruin the lives of those who are responsible for whose protection and especially Kshatriyas are martial guard of the society so they definitely need to protect their subordinates given this reality to say that they can be allowed to go on aggressors can be allowed to go on unchallenged is wrong but then these are Swajanam so that is another major factor which comes into the picture here how can I fight against my relatives how can I kill my relatives so there is this ethical tension between Kshatriya Dharma which what he is meant to do as a warrior who is out to fight a war and what he is meant to do and what he is to do as a Kula Dharma he is meant to protect his citizens so among these two factors which is more important which is the one he should give priority to decision making that involves multiple factors is complex and it requires calm and multifaceted contemplation quite often we get carried away by one factor and we make a decision but then sometimes the other factors tend to be more consequential so you may think that oh this road it has a beautiful scenery along so I will take this route but while there is beautiful scenery along the way the road is through a forested area where animals might be there where decoys might be there where the vehicle breaks down it is unsafe and that factor might prove to be much more consequential than any other factor so each one of us needs to consider the various factors involved in any particular situation and then make a decision based on that if we do not consider various factors we let ourselves be carried away by only one factor then our decision will be unbalanced so we see here Arjun is focusing more and more on the factor of they are my relatives swajanam swaban those words come twice but we will see in this whole section these words come repeatedly and the repetition of these words indicates that they have been that they have been that is the factor that is dominating Arjuna's mind right now and his analysis is skewed in that direction so that consideration that these are my relatives is no doubt important and undoubtedly that we would like to avoid infighting with one's own relatives fights among family members are especially nasty because the emotions involved become very strong it is when we have affection or love for someone and then they let us down it is then that things go extremely wrong that we start feeling so disheartened that we can practically do nothing at that time so it is important for each one of us to try to come to a holistic perception of the situation that is not biased or distorted by the emotion of the moment the way the emotion is rising at a particular moment that emotion tells our vision and distorts our perception we can see things only in a particular way and other things even if we see they don't register in our consciousness and because they don't register within therefore we get carried away by them we get carried away by what registers and we neglect the things that don't register and with our vision thus cured with our vision thus distorted we end up doing actions that will hurt us that will trouble us that will make things worse than what they need to be so understanding this we need to select properly what we are to do and arrive at a balanced decision.