Krishna and Balarama - Brothers Disagree on War

Balarama was already packing when Krishna found him.

Krishna: "So the rumors are true, You're leaving."

Balarama: "I'm going on pilgrimage. The war will happen without me."

Krishna: "You're running away."

Balarama's jaw tightened.

Balarama: "That's unfair. I trained them both—Duryodhana and Bhima. I cannot raise weapons against either."

Krishna: "Cannot or will not?"

Balarama: "Does it matter? You've already chosen sides. The Yadava army follows your command. What difference does one more warrior make?"

Krishna: "Every difference. You're Balarama. You carry the plow that churns worlds. Your presence on either side would shift the balance entirely."

Balarama: "Which is exactly why I must be absent."

Krishna entered the room and sat on his brother's bed.

Krishna: "You've never been a coward in your life. What's really holding you back?"

Balarama's movements slowed. Then stopped. He sat heavily in a chair.

Balarama: "Duryodhana loves me, Do you understand that? Not my power, not my name—me. He trained under me for years. He listened to me. He respected me. When I see him, I don't see a villain. I see the boy who practiced mace-work until his hands bled because he wanted to impress his guru."

Krishna: "That boy grew into a man who tried to disrobe a woman in open court."

Balarama: "Men are complicated. You know that better than anyone."

Krishna: "And the Pandavas? Does their devotion mean nothing?"

Balarama: "It means everything! That's the problem! Bhima is like a son to me. How can I fight against the boy I raised? But Duryodhana—how can I fight against him either? You ask me to choose between two people I love. I refuse."

Krishna: "So you choose yourself instead."

Balarama: "I choose to not cause more harm than necessary."

Krishna: "Do you know what true neutrality requires, brother? Not absence. Presence without preference. The truly neutral stay, watch, and do not intervene. They bear witness. What you're doing isn't neutrality—it's escape."

Balarama: "Maybe escape is all I have."

Krishna: "No. You have a choice that's even harder. Stay. Watch your students destroy each other. Feel the weight of knowing you armed both sides. And still, do not pick up your weapons."

Balarama: "That sounds like torture."

Krishna: "It is. It's the torture of the teacher who has done their job too well. Both sides are strong because of you. Both sides will win victories because of your training. You can't un-teach them. You can only witness what your teaching has created."

Balarama looked at his packed bags.

Balarama: "Is that what you want? For me to stay and suffer?"

Krishna: "I want you to understand that there is no clean choice here. Leaving, staying, fighting, abstaining—every option carries weight. You're trying to find the path with no karma, but that path doesn't exist."

Balarama: "Then what do I do?"

Krishna: "Whatever you can live with. If pilgrimage gives you peace, go. If staying gives you truth, stay. But don't pretend that leaving is neutral. Everything has consequences. Even absence."

Balarama looked at his younger brother—always the cleverer one, always seeing ten moves ahead.

Balarama: "I hate that you're wiser than me."

Krishna: "I'm not wiser. I'm just more comfortable with complexity."

Balarama: "Is that what this war is? Complexity?"

Krishna: "This war is the end of an age, And every choice made in its shadow will echo for millennia. Whatever you choose, brother, choose it fully. That's all any of us can do."

Balarama looked at his bags for a long moment. Then he began unpacking.

Krishna: "I'll stay. I won't fight. But I'll stay."

Balarama: "That's all I ask."