Why does the Gita use a battlefield setting?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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question why does the Bhagavad Gita talk use the setting of a battlefield if the Bhagavad Gita is not a book of book that calls people for violence in general why does it use a setting of a battlefield which will lead to misunderstanding answer the setting of battlefield is used for three purposes first it illustrates it draws attention normally people are not interested in philosophy but people are interested in action so if in the middle of action philosophy is brought then people who are interested in the action will want to know what is future action going to come and that’s how they will hear the philosophy also so it attracts attention towards philosophy by providing extremely dramatic setting second is that it shows how philosophy if a warrior on a war field was ready to stop stop everything for fighting a war that indicates that he was how important and urgent philosophy is few things as urgent as a war in life but even in that philosophy is more urgent so the urgency of philosophy the dramatic interest through putting philosophy in the context of action and third is that the war setting demonstrates that spirituality is not meant, spiritual wisdom is not just meant for meant for renunciates it is meant for people who are in the world who act practically in the world and of course the war metaphor also symbolizes the war within so we all have to fight a war within against our lower passions and the battlefield setting dramatically symbolizes that that point of the inner war and the Bhagavad Gita also uses the imagery of war the terminology of war referring to lust, anger, greed as enemies referring to detachment and knowledge as weapons and this way the martial imagery can invoke energy into our spiritual endeavors