Krishna and the Chariot of Kurukshetra

Told in English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Spanish, French, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese.

Come, my dear, let me tell you about a moment when a warrior on a battlefield had to learn one of the most important lessons in life. On the vast, dusty field of Kurukshetra, two enormous armies stood facing one another, ready for a terrible war. Arjuna, a mighty and skilled archer, asked his charioteer — his chariot driver, and also his dearest friend — Krishna, to drive him out between the two armies so he could see who he'd be fighting.

But do you know what he saw, my darling? His own cousins. His own teachers, the very people who had taught him to shoot an arrow. His own friends, standing on the other side, ready for battle. His hands began to shake, and his mighty bow, called the Gandiva, slipped right out of his grip. 'I cannot fight my own family,' Arjuna said, sinking down in despair — that means a deep, heavy sadness, like all the strength has left you.

Krishna looked at him gently and began to speak — and oh, what wise words they were, words that people still repeat today, thousands of years later! He said that we must do our duty with our whole heart, without worrying so much about the result. He said the soul, the deepest part of us, never truly dies. And he said that what is right must always, always be protected, even when it's hard. Can you imagine how comforting those words must have felt to Arjuna? This conversation became the Bhagavad Gita, my dear — one of the most treasured teachings in the whole world.