B-Gita Question

[gitajifan]

hello and Namaste,
For the first chapter of Bhagavad Gita can someone please explain why Bhisma and Drona chose the side of Duryodhana instead of Arjuna's side? Drona's favourite student was Arjuna, so I'd expect Drona to choose the side of Arjuna:confused:. Bhisma is according to my Bhagavad Gita As It Is book in the glossary "a great DEVOTEE and senior faculty member of the Kuru dynasty". Being a great devotee of Shree Krishna, why would he choose the side of Duryodhana contaminated with evil-minded people with greed for kingdoms?

Thank you very much,

Hare Krishna:)

[devotee]

Namaste,

A person must remain faithful to his master and King. Drone was a paid teacher in the kingdom of Duryodhana and therefore, he had to take side of his paymaster. Similarly, for Bhishma also, Duryodhana was his King and he had to fight for his king. Their duty was to fight for their King and they did exactly that.

Please remember, even though VibhIshaNa sided with God, he never was respected for his act of abandoning his King brother at the time of War. Even today, a betrayer is disrespectfully called a VibhIshan. KumbhakarNa knew very well that fighting against Lord Rama means utter destruction ad he tried to persuade RAvaNa too but when RAvANa didn't listen to him, he too went to war to fulfill his duty.

OM

[Ganeshprasad]

Pranam

As well as what Devotee ji points out, Bhismapita was not just duty bound but oath bound to protect the Singhasan the throne.
There was another lila, a bhakta wanted to make his lord break his promise of not taking up arms but this was secondary from the main reason.

Jai Shree Krishna

[Believer]

Namaste Gitajifan,

First of all, welcome to the forum.
It is customary here for a new member to introduce himself, be welcomed and then ease himself into the forum before asking heavy hitting questions.:) But the youthful exuberance which bypasses the traditional formalities is also appreciated.



Bhisma is ...... a great DEVOTEE and senior faculty member of the Kuru dynasty". Being a great devotee of Shree Krishna, why would he choose the side of Duryodhana contaminated with evil-minded people with greed for kingdoms?
As per the norms of the day, people supported by the kingdom were duty bound to support the ruling king, no matter how bad he was. But Bhisham did realize the folly of his ways on his deathbed. It was there that Shri Krishanji persuaded the dying warrior to give some practical advice to the Pandavs in the art of running a kingdom. Among the things Bhisham said was that he had erred in supporting the evil king; his contention was that he should have supported the kingdom and should have thought about the best interests of the people of the kingdom, rather than blindly supporting a wretched king. At a personal level, as much as we are bound by traditions and unwritten rules of loyalty to the person who signs our paycheck, there comes a time when the bigger interests of the humanity trump the interests of a crooked king/administrator/manager. Not everyone has to agree with that, but always jumping up and down in support of the traditions, without using one's head is a character flaw that was brought to the fore by wise Bhisham. As we worship him and adore him and sing his praises in upholding the duty bound traditions of the land, we must also remember that his final analysis and advice on that single act was contrary to what he actually did and he was remorseful about that. Completely shutting down one's own conscious and blindly following unjust traditions on the part of masses is what brought Hitler to power and sustained him long enough to attempt to change the course of world history. Hope that helped some of the fog in your head to disappear. ;)

Pranam.