The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s2.21
The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s2.21
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c2.s2.21
What then are the priests to do? They turn to God. It was Vishnu who shouted to Arjuna ‘strike him now,’ and the great hero, questioning not the word of God, though with great reluctance, shoots his helpless foe. Here, says the priest, is the truth of this story. Certainly Arjuna killed Karna thus; but you may not cite it for a precedent against our ‘code of war,’ since God inspired the act from occult reasons, and that takes the deed out of our sphere of judgment.