Why did Krishna break his vow by attacking Bhishma?

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Transcript

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Hare Krishna. Did Krishna break his vow by attacking Bhishma during the Kurukshetra war? Answer? No.
Krishna, in one sense, did not break the vow but we can discuss which vow we did not break. So, at the start of the Kurukshetra war, Krishna had taken a vow that, because both the Kauravas and the Pandavas were related to him, he decided that he will not personally raise weapons in this war and thus he decided to be a non-combatant. But when Duryodhana and Arjuna approached him, then he decided that he will offer his Narayana Sena and that was taken by Duryodhana and Arjuna took Krishna whom he requested that let him be his charioteer.
So, as a charioteer Krishna guided Arjuna but normally did not raise weapons. But on the ninth day of the Kurukshetra war, when Bhishma was wreaking havoc in the Pandava camp and Arjuna was fighting against him only half-heartedly because he could not bear the thought of attacking and wounding or his grandsire, his beloved grandsire, on whose laps he had played, with his beard he had played. So, Arjuna just could not accept that thought and that’s why Arjuna fought wholeheartedly, whereas Bhishma fought fiercely and Krishna realized that the way Bhishma was fighting, soon Arjuna would fall, Arjuna would be killed and even the whole Pandava army could be destroyed if Bhishma was not checked.
So, at that time, Krishna went into deep thought and then he decided to take action. So, he leapt off the chariot and then he looked around and saw a chariot wheel which had broken off from a chariot that was lying on the ground. He charged towards it and he got up and he picked it up, whirled it in his hand and charged towards Bhishma telling him that you are the cause of this whole war.
You, when a king goes on the wrong track, the minister should be responsible to bring the king on the right track because you did not bring Dhritarashtra on the right track. Therefore, you are the cause of this whole war and carnage and you need to die and Bhishma put aside his bow and arrow and in a mood of surrender he said, Krishna, oh Vasudev, dying at your hands would be the perfection of my life and being mortified, Arjuna jumped off his chariot and ran after Krishna. Krishna, stop.
I will fight. I will fight. Krishna, Arjuna was mortified at the thought that Krishna had broken his bow.
Krishna had said, I will not use a weapon and technically speaking, a wheel is not a weapon but for Lord Vishnu, the Surasen Chakra is his most fearsome weapon and Krishna at that time, he was so filled with anxiety that he did not think of summoning his Surasen Chakra but the Chakra of a Ratha, Thang Pani as he is known, that Lord who took the Ratha Anga, the wheel of a Ratha in his hands, that Lord, that Surasen Chakra, he was reminded of the Surasen Chakra by this Chakra and he picked up this Chakra and started charging towards Bhishma and because the situation was so dangerous and Krishna did not want to miss his target, so normally when Krishna sends the Surasen Chakra, from wherever he is, Chakra goes and does the job but here Krishna wanted to go close to Bhishma and hurl the Chakra from close quarters just like if a person shoots with a gun from close quarters, the chances of missing are much lower and therefore the chances of finishing off the opponent are much higher. So Krishna didn’t want to take any risks with the life of Arjuna and that’s why he went close and Arjuna ran behind and he was shouting to Krishna to stop and Krishna did not stop. Arjuna leapt across and caught Krishna by the thigh.
Krishna was so angry that Krishna kept running, running and Arjuna was dragged along while holding on to Krishna’s thighs and finally Arjuna, using his powerful Kshatriya legs, he raised them and brought them crashing into the ground and his feet created almost like a trench, a groove in the ground and in his leg, his feet got stuck inside that and then he held on to Krishna and Krishna was brought to a grinding stop and Arjuna told Krishna, Krishna, I will fight, I will kill Bhishma, please don’t break your vow. So here Krishna has given a vow in the Bhagavad Gita and that is his eternal vow that I will protect my devotees. Oh Arjuna, know that my devotees will never perish.
So Krishna wanted to protect, so Krishna wanted to protect that vow. So more than protecting his vow that I will never raise a weapon, yes that was a vow, but for him more than his word, his devotees were important and his vow to protect his devotees is the vow that Krishna did keep. If Krishna had not lifted up the Kurukshetra, the chakra to attack Bhishma, then Arjuna could have perished and Krishna’s word in the Bhagavad Gita would not have been, would have, the world appear not true.
So that’s why what Krishna did was, he intervened. So Krishna did not break his vow because he actually kept his words that he will protect his devotees. That vow he protected and as far as the vow of not lifting a weapon, technically you could say a chakra is not a weapon, so he did not break the vow and even if he broke that word which he had given, Krishna by breaking the word actually he kept the word of Bhishma.
So what happened is Bhishma in the previous, that day’s morning he had taken a vow that because Duryodhana had been repeatedly goading him saying that you are not, you are not fighting wholeheartedly because you are, you have a soft corner for the Pandavas. He was accusing you of partiality and leniency. So Duryodhana, Bhishma had got irritated by that, incensed by that and he had said that I will, today I will fight so ferociously that either Arjuna will be killed or Krishna will have to intervene to protect Arjuna.
So then Krishna actually protected the word of Bhishma. So Krishna, apparently he seemed to have broken his vow that I will not lift the weapon, but Krishna did many things by it. He protected the word of his devotee of Bhishma that either Arjuna will die or Krishna will lift a weapon to protect, Krishna will intervene to protect Arjuna and that’s what Krishna did and Krishna also protected the life of Arjuna and further Krishna kept his word in Bhagavad Gita that he will protect his devotees.
So in this way, this is actually a pastime of showing how for God, his devotees and his devotee’s protection, so protection of the devotee’s life and protection of the devotee’s word. So both actually Bhishma and Arjuna are his devotees. So protection of Bhishma’s word and protection of Arjuna’s life, these were more important than the protection of his own word.
So Krishna is more happy, Krishna is more concerned about being known as the lover and protector of his devotees than being just a person who always speaks truth. So that is the, so Krishna’s apparent breaking of his vow, if at all there is a breaking, then that is actually demonstrates his extraordinary love for his devotees. Thank you.