As I read the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita I was introduced to the character Prince Arjuna, who faces a moral dilemma of duty. The other character Sri Krishna, who is Prince Arjuna's charioteer and advisor, attempts to help Arjuna solve this moral dilemma. Krishna convinces Arjuna to fight in a bloody civil war by using the concepts of Sankhya Wisdom and Yoga. This essay will show that Krishna not only selfishly convinced Arjuna to fight but also had no true moral justification to bring on this civil war.
             The first chapter sets the scene for a battle that is about to take place which will determine the fate of a nation. Three successive generations of the ruling family have been passed over for the crown for various reasons to a family of close relations. Arjuna's brother is the leader of the army trying to overthrow the current patriarch. Arjuna's cousin, the reining king, is fighting to hold onto the thrown which was passed down to him through his blind father, King Dhritarashtra. Now the two sides of the same family are fighting to see who will take claim to the ancient throne of the Kurus.
             When Arjuna arrives to the battlefield he questions the morality of a civil war in which he will have to kill his family members and friends. " If those for whose sake we desire kingdom, enjoyment and pleasures - they stand here in battle, renouncing their lives and riches:" (BG 1:32-33) "Teachers, fathers, sons, and also grandfathers; uncles and fathers-in-law, grandsons and brothers-in-law, and other kinsmen." (BG 1:34)
             Arjuna then goes on to argue that the rewards to be won from this battle are not worth the destruction which will need to take place for his army to emerge victorious. Arjuna also argues that all the riches contained in three worlds would not be enough to justify killing all of the friends and relatives on the battlefield. Therefore he cannot be satisfied with only a part of the riches contain...