Five thousand years ago that war happened. The whole responsibility goes to Krishna – because Arjuna, the warrior, seeing millions of people, started thinking, “What is the point of it all? – killing all these people just to sit on a golden throne? There will not even be people to see that you are sitting on a golden throne. What is the point?”
Arjuna was far more intelligent than your incarnation of God, Krishna. Arjuna said, “This war seems to be absolutely meaningless. I am going to the Himalayas to meditate. Let my cousin-brothers rule, but at least there will be life. I am not going to take this great responsibility of killing so many people for my own glory, to become Arjuna the Great.”
But Krishna is very clever, very cunning. He goes on arguing, convincing, persuading Arjuna. And finally he says to Arjuna, “You don’t understand that God wants this war, because without him not even a leaf in a tree moves. You are not responsible if people are killed; it is God’s will.”
And when you bring God in and relieve people of their responsibility, it becomes difficult to refuse. I would have certainly refused it, but Arjuna had a conditioned mind. Krishna says, “God’s will!…the war has to happen whether you participate or not. By not participating you will fall in the eyes of God. The war will happen.” His actual words are, “You see these millions of warriors on both the sides gathered, alive? In fact, they are just waiting to die. They are dead, you are not killing them. You cannot do anything on your own; you are just a puppet in the hands of God.”
God is the greatest lie that these people have been teaching. And in the name of God you can convince people to do any stupid thing.
If I had been in the place of Arjuna I would have said, “Perfectly okay, I am going to the Himalayas. How can I go to the Himalayas if God is not willing me to go there? Let him kill these people through other puppets.”
It was so simple. But Krishna goes on forcing him: “You are born in a warrior family, you are a warrior by nature, from your very birth. This will be dropping out. It will be ugly, shameful to you and to your whole family and to your forefathers. Don’t be a coward! Prove your mettle – the opportunity has come!” And he forced Arjuna into a war which is called Mahabharata, the Great Indian War. It must have been something like the third world war which is looming on the horizon. And there are so many Arjunas; only one Krishna is needed to convince some Arjuna to start it, to be the pioneer.
It must have been of tremendous proportions, because since that war, India has never been able to regain its strength. It has been going down and down; it lost courage, it lost the joy of life. It became too concerned about death. Any religion which is concerned too much about death is fundamentally wrong. And all the religions are death-oriented.