Wrongly quoting Bhagavad Gita to explain the mass destruction caused by US and its allies

An article appearing in FPIF on the mass destruction caused by United States and its allies quotes Bhagavad Gita to explain the nature of destruction. The article written by Conn Hallinan is titled “The Vishnu Strategy” (no idea what that strategy is) and quotes from the Bhagavad Gita.

The Supreme Lord said: I am death, the mighty destroyer of the world, out to destroy.” According to the great Hindu text Bhagavad-Gita, Vishnu delivered that speech to Prince Arjuna before a great battle almost eight millennia ago.

The author seems to be influenced by Robert Oppenheimer who quoted from Gita to describe the explosion of the atomic bomb. Firstly, it was not Vishnu who delivered Bhagavad Gita but Lord Krishna. Since Krishna being the incarnation of Lord Vishnu for argument sake the statement can be accepted.

The above said quote is from the eleventh chapter of Bhagavad Gita (verse 32). And Conn Halliman has not taken the entire quote but mutilated it to suit his article.

I am death,
The mighty destroyer of the world, out to destroy.
Even without your participation all the warriors
Standing arrayed in the opposing armies
Shall cease to exist.

Kalo’smi lokaksayakrt-pravrddho
Lokan smahartum-iha pravrttah|

rte’pi twam na bhavisyanti sarve
ye’vasthitah pratyanikesu yodhah||

The term used for death in the verse is ‘Kal’ which also means ‘Time’ so the verse also means

Time am I, that comes to destroy worlds, grown mature, engaged here in subduing the world. Even without thee, all the warriors stationed in the opposite ranks shall not be. (Translated by Shakuntala Rao Shastri)

Krishna is here removing the ignorance of Arjuna by pointing out that ‘Time’ or ‘death’ will anyway consume all those that you are worrying for. When Krishna says ‘Time am I’ he is saying that he is Brahman or the ultimate truth.

So what is the article dealing with?

An Israeli commander recently expressed regret on the recent war against Lebanon by Israel.

From the article

The latest channeling of the Hindu god can be found in an Israeli commander's evaluation of last summer's war with Lebanon: “What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs.”

The commander was decrying the way Israel, the United States, and Great Britain wage war these days, which has increasingly become an exercise in mass destruction. In the last five years, Vishnu has visited Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon. The result has been death and ruin on a biblical—or more aptly, a Bhagavad-Gita—scale.

The writer concludes that US and its allies are employing Vishnu Strategy.

What does this mean? What has Bhagavad Gita and Lord Vishnu to do with the mass destruction carried out by fascist governments?

Krishna did not ask Arjuna to kill innocent people but asked to fight for his existence. Shying away from defending one's existence is against the law of nature. Every living being has the right to live in nature until nature consumes it. Often human beings out of his/her ignorance do not perform the required duty. Krishna was only removing the ignorance of Arjuna which was acting as an impediment from him performing his duty.

If United States and its allies are creating mass destruction it is out of the ignorance of the ruling class.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very pertinent & good blog. Thanks for the actual gita quotes & translations!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the blog. It helped me alot and I greatly apreciate it. It will help me in my religion project!

Anonymous said...

These poor people are trying to defame the Sanatana Dharma for the sake of money, but it may also make popular the Bhagavad Gita & Hinduism

xoy said...

an expedient blog. its very nice to know that people from other countries taking great interest in GITA. but its very unfortunate that they are modifying the meaning of age old gita according to their personal necessities.

Anonymous said...

Very good topic and very good explanation. People around the world misuse hindu scriptures to justify their actions. We should not allow other religions to take hindus and hinduism for a ride.

Janhavi said...

Great and an apt article.Thank You. This can as well be seen as an apt time to project Hinduism as the way of life,a religion for living not a bunch of people following some rituals! The authors thinking they are taking support out of our scriptures are quoting it wrong.But lets see it as a platform they are providing us to debate and prove that the understood meaning of our scriptures is wrong and this is what it means in a wider and better sense. Nowz the age of reasoning,lets fight it out & vanish their prejudices about us & our culture.It's good one way that western authors atleast know the something like GITA exist in Hinduism.Let them provide the platform and let is reason it out & explain them what actually it means.That way the world can equally see the right intention & meaning as well as the manipulated version of it ;compare & understand themselves.

Anonymous said...

I think the point about the misuse of the quote is correct as is the observation of Robert Oppenheimer's use of it leading to these poseurs.

The silly notion about America and England are only the work of Islamo-fascists who unlike these two democracies show no tolerance for Hinduism and it's principles.

Please don't mix asinine Islamist propaganda with good scholarship on the misuse of Hindu religious beliefs.

Anonymous said...

There are so many unauthorized versions of our scriptures due to this many people are misinterpreting our scriptures.

The word Hinduism ,Aryan itself is a misnomer.Hindu name is given by invaders.Aryan race was coined by Max Muller.

Anonymous said...

Nice and illuminating article. unfortunately The priceless, timeless and ulimate truth as illuminated by the Sanathana Dharma had not been appreciated even in India till recently. It is the most liberal and democratic way of life and quest for truth. The world is now slowly but steadily realising this fact. This is the only solution to the world torn apart under the weight of conflicts and destructions that various barbazic and violent civilisations have brought upon the universe.

Anonymous said...

Search for a pdf article titled "oppenheimer and the gita" published by american physiological society (APS) - the author explains that Oppenheimer understood not only the 'gnana' argument (that the world is maya, and only atma is eternal - so killing someone is not killing the atma), but also the 'dharma' and 'laukika' arguments. Dharma says that innocents should not be harmed.

In my thought oppenheimer understood it well, but many do not understand oppenheimer

Anonymous said...

Extermely informative, thanks

Anonymous said...

Very informative article and well said. In response to the comments left by others involving misinterpretaions, I must say this...Every religious text has been misinterptreted. From the bible to the Qur'an to the Bhagavad Gita and so on and so on. The only ones who know the true meanings are the writers and those who are pure of faith. I agree that a common meaning must be implied but to reach that meaning with others hearts is a task not easily done.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the clarification on That verse. But I know many in America, especially those who converted to Buddhism, who have read Gita and have great regard for it. Only people who just copy/paste and form opinion based on one verse speak in an ignorant manner.

Anonymous said...

Everyone here seems to be in agreement over the misinterpretation of Hindu texts, which is true in a lot of cases. However, there is no reason to get so up in arms about this man's article. I believe his metaphorical commentary on the world has,likewise, been largely misinterpreted.

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