​When Krishna had vowed not to lift weapons during the Kurukshetra war, why did he lift up a wheel?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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Krishna does pick up a weapon, when he picks up a chariot wheel, actually how that happens is, Krishna at that time is so concerned that Bhishma, the way he is fighting, he will kill Arjuna. And I cannot tolerate Arjuna’s dying. So he just, in his anxiety, he just is there on Arjuna’s chariot in one moment, and Arjuna is shooting the next moment, and Krishna is gone.
Where did Krishna go? He looks around and Krishna has actually jumped out of the chariot and is looking somewhere for a weapon. And then he sees just a chakra. And normally a chakra is not considered to be a weapon.
It’s not really meant to be a weapon. Now what happens is, why does Krishna pick up that chakra? It’s described that normally a chakra is not a weapon, but for Vishnu, a chakra is a weapon. So, that chakra, when he sees it, that actually reminds Krishna of the Sudarshan chakra.
With this, I will protect Arjuna. But then he is in so much anxiety that he picks up the chakra, he forgets to summon his own Sudarshan chakra, just picks up that chakra. And then, normally when Krishna uses Sudarshan chakra, wherever he is, he just sends the chakra.
And the chakra goes and kills the, no, cuts off the head of the person. But here, Arjuna is in so much anxiety, he thinks that, you know, if I throw the chakra and the chakra misses the target, then Bhishma will shoot and kill Arjuna. So, like that, if you want to be careful about shooting someone, go right next to the person and shoot.
Then, there is very little chance of missing the target. So, like that, at that time, Krishna starts running towards Bhishma. And normally when an arrow fight is going on, the two warriors are at significant distance when they fight with arrows.
So, Krishna goes, goes, goes and Arjuna is petrified at that time. You know, the world will say that Krishna lifted a weapon, a chariot wheel is not actually a weapon. But still the world will criticize.
So, Krishna, Arjuna tells Krishna, Krishna, please don’t fight. I will fight. I will kill Bhishma.
Please stop. But Krishna is not ready to hear at all. Then Arjuna just runs after Krishna and Krishna is just going so fast, Arjuna cannot catch him.
So, Arjuna just jumps and catches Krishna’s thigh and holds on to Krishna’s thigh to stop him. But Krishna is running so fast that Krishna drags Arjuna along and Krishna keeps running. And then finally, Arjuna becomes desperate.
So, Arjuna even takes his huge Kshatriya feet and they are being dragged along. So, he lifts his feet and he bangs those feet down on the ground. And when he bangs the feet down forcefully, actually that creates like a ditch and his feet get caught in that ditch and with his feet caught in the ditch, he is holding on to Krishna’s thighs.
And then Krishna comes to a stop over there and Arjuna says, Krishna, please don’t fight. I will fight and kill Bhishma. Please don’t lift a weapon.
So, there, actually, through this whole pastime, Krishna demonstrates that for him his promise is important, but for him his devotees are even more important. And that’s why for the sake of his devotees’ protection, he is ready to give up his promise also. That’s what, in one sense, technically it’s not a weapon because it’s an ordinary chariot wheel.
It’s not a Sudarshan Chakra. But even if somebody says it’s a weapon, Krishna is ready to give up his promise so that he can protect his devotees. Shikhandi?