Yuddha, fighting. Arjuna was kṣatriya; it is his duty. Because here, in this material world, violence is also required. Violence. Because everyone is competitor, everyone is trying to become the Supreme, so there will be violence. Just like in your state, at the present moment, there is violence because one party is trying to become Supreme than the other. That is going on everywhere, all over the world, the struggle for existence. Everyone is trying to become supreme than the other. So there must be violence.
So expecting that there will be violence, the kṣatriya class required. Just like in the state, expecting that there will be violence, therefore the police department is maintained, the military department is maintained. So you cannot avoid violence from this material world. It is useless proposal. Our Mahatma Gandhi tried to stop violence. He started the nonviolence movement. But factually he had to die by violence.
So kṣatriya, they are trained up to violent, to become violent to stop violence. That is required. Therefore Kṛṣṇa advises that, "Don't try to become nonviolent, because . . ." Tasmād yudhyasva bhārata. "Don't think that by killing the body, your grandfather or your nephews and your brother on the other side, they will be finished. No. They'll live. The body may be destroyed," na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre (BG 2.20), but actual soul, he'll transmigrate.
According to Vedic philosophy, if a kṣatriya dies in proper fighting, then he is immediately transferred to the heavenly planet. The heavenly planet. Because he sacrifices his body for right cause. Formerly, the fight was not a very trifle thing. After much consideration, then fighting or war was declared. Just like the fighting between the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas; first of all there was great endeavor to stop the fight. Kṛṣṇa Himself became the messenger and was going from this party to another.
Because Kṛṣṇa . . . both the parties were Kṛṣṇa's family relative. So He wanted to stop and mitigate the misunderstanding by mutual settlement. But it was not possible. The Duryodhana's party said that, "We are not prepared to spare even a small piece of land which can hold the tip of the needle." Sūcāgra-bhūmi. Then it was decided there must be fight.
That fighting was meant for the kṣatriyas. Formerly, there was no democracy, the so-called democracy. Democracy means that there was one king only; now there are hundreds of kings. One king and few ministers. Now one governor, one, I mean to say, three dozen secretaries, and three dozen . . . so many things. It is overburdened. The tax, tax is overburdened because there are so many officers, they have to be sumptually paid. So tax is required.
So in this age, Kali-yuga, by, I mean to say, finishing the monarchical system, people have accepted the democratic system, but it is not very much improvement, because the state expenditure has very much increased and people are very much overburdened with taxes. So Kṛṣṇa advises that tasmād yudhyasva.