Truly Great Men

(click to ENLARGE)

"This is the status of truly great men:  living, they live for others; dying, they die for others." 

So writes the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in his commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita. The famous 700-verse Hindu scripture tells the story of the warrior prince Arjuna, who pauses on the brink of a terrible battle to consult with his charioteer and guide, Lord Krishna. Arjuna is filled with self-doubt about his role as a warrior and the righteousness of his cause. His moral dilemma is timeless, as acute today as it was in the 4th and 5th Century BCE, the era in which the Gita was written. As the Maharishi explains:

"A close study of Arjuna's utterances reveals that he is bent upon resisting evil; he is not interested in killing people. He wants to destroy the evil without destroying the evil-doer. It is a noble ideal. His aim is to destroy the evil on earth, if possible without bringing down upon society the untold suffering and destruction of war."

How does one find the courage to act when stopping an evil means commiting an evil? Arjuna's tale was the inspiration for my spiritual adventure thriller, THE ASSASSIN LOTUS, a contemporary take on the daunting challenge of confronting the modern evil of terrorism. 

Click HERE to see more posts.