Chapter 2, Verse 32
yadṛcchayā copapannaṁ
svarga dvāram apāvṛtam
sukhinaḥ kṣatriyāḥ pārtha
labhante yuddham īdṛśam
Happy are the Kshatriyas, O Arjuna, to whom a war such as this comes of its own accord; it opens the gates to Heaven.
Here again, Bhagavan Sri Krishna tells Arjuna, “Happy are the Kshatriyas, O Arjuna, to whom a war such as this comes of its own accord;” He says, “Look! You should be rejoicing! You have not come here to make the war happen, but it came to you! It gives you the opportunity to do your dharma. You should welcome this opportunity to do your dharma. You should accept it! Welcome it!”
“...it opens the gates to Heaven”: when you do your duty in life, accepting what God is giving you to do, it draws you closer and closer to God-Realisation. By accepting what God is giving you in your daily life, you are opening the gates to receive more. By showing that you are doing your duty; by accepting what God gives you in life – you are showing God that you are ready for a greater purpose in this life, for greater work. Krishna says, “If you run away from this, it will not bring you any good. It will pain you. It will be unrighteous. Especially on such an occasion, where doing this duty will help you open all the doors to Heaven.”
He says, “Accept life. Accept whatever God gives you. Declaring this war will open the gates of Heaven.”
You know, in war, they often check how you died – whether you were running away from the war or you were facing the war. They check this in a war, no? To see if you got the bullet from the front or from the back. If the bullet came from in front of you and the enemies were in front of you, then you will get lots of praise. But if the bullet came from behind and the enemy was behind you, that’s a problem. Your name will not even be mentioned – because that means that you were running away. When one meets one’s death in a righteous war, one obtains direct access to Heaven. This is Karma Bhumi, Punya Bhumi, so because of all this good merit, one will go to Heaven. Happy are the Kshatriyas who have such an opportunity! Not all Kshatriyas get the opportunity to fight in a righteous war. Only the fortunate ones get to do such a duty.
When I refer to a righteous war, I am not talking about a religious war. Don’t mix these up. Righteous is beyond religion. Nowadays war is due to religion: one religion claims it is better than another. Then they make a war and each side says that it is fighting for the right cause. No! This has nothing to do with a righteous war. A righteous war, a holy war, is the dharma that one has to do in life. That’s why Krishna says here, “If you run away, you will not do your swadharma, you will not do your duty. Especially when it is coming to you. You are not making the war, you are not the cause of the war, but this war has been given to you to fight.”
Bhagavad Gita
