Gita 1.45

Sadhak: "Guru ji, this sounds like Arjuna is suicidal. Is that what the Gita is showing us?"

Guru: "It's showing us what happens when a noble mind collapses under the weight of unresolved moral conflict. Arjuna isn't clinically suicidal—he's morally paralyzed. Death seems preferable to making an impossible choice."

Sadhak: "But isn't choosing not to fight a valid choice? Couldn't he just walk away?"

Guru: "Walk away to what? This battle isn't a boxing match he can skip. The Kauravas won't stop—they'll continue their adharma. By walking away, Arjuna doesn't prevent suffering; he merely shifts responsibility for it onto others."

Sadhak: "So his wish to die is selfish?"

Guru: "It's a form of escape disguised as sacrifice. 'Let them kill me'—this transfers the karma to the Kauravas while Arjuna achieves the peace of death. It's spiritually sophisticated cowardice."

Sadhak: "That seems harsh. He's clearly suffering."

Guru: "Of course he's suffering. And suffering can produce wisdom or delusion. Right now, Arjuna's suffering is producing delusion—the belief that non-existence is better than difficult action. Krishna will transform this same suffering into wisdom."

Sadhak: "How does suffering become wisdom?"

Guru: "Through teaching. Arjuna's crisis has made him teachable. A comfortable person doesn't seek truth. Only when our normal strategies fail—as they have completely for Arjuna—do we become genuinely open to transformation."

Sadhak: "So this is the darkness before dawn?"

Guru: "Precisely. The Gita couldn't begin until Arjuna reached this point. The teaching emerges from the crisis. Remember this in your own life: your deepest confusion may be the preparation for your greatest clarity."