Responding to terror with wisdom: The Bhagavad Gita's timeless message

In a tragic event at Pahalgam, more than twenty innocent tourists were brutally murdered in a terror attack.

- ACHARYA PRASHANT

Reports state that the terrorists specifically chose their victims along religious lines before killing them. This was not an act of random violence; it was a calculated attempt to destroy communities, spread fear, destabilize the region, divide people, and weaken the local economy.

This is no moment to let oneself be overwhelmed by mindless fury or reactive anger, as that is exactly what the forces operating behind such conduct desire. At such a moment, when sorrow and bewilderment grip the mind, what we need is firmness and fearlessness born of wisdom.

WHY IS THE GITA RELEVANT IN SUCH MOMENTS?

Understanding, leaving us bewildered, enraged, and afraid. The Bhagavad Gita, too, starts at the same place—the battlefield of Kurukshetra where base emotions rule, and clear action is obfuscated by feeling. Terrorists seek not just to take lives, but to unsettle us from inside. Terrorism inflicts us with war; Gita tells us how to respond when challenged with wars. The Gita was revealed not in a secluded and peaceful environment, but on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, when Arjun, the greatest archer of his era, was paralyzed by grief and uncertainty. Much like Arjun, we too frequently experience moral ambiguity and face inner conflict. Terrorism is not just a confrontation with violence; it is a confrontation with a breakdown of

To let Gita help us, it is not to be worshipped as a symbol, nor recited out of habit, but to be understood and used as a mirror to examine the workings of our provoked and distressed mind. In times of severe crisis, like a terror attack, when inner balance is lost and fear overcomes reason, it will act as a living guide.

UNDERSTANDING THE ROOTS OF TERROR