A reading lens over the epic, not a passage of it
Divine counsel
कृष्णनीति
Krishna advises, drives and arranges, but takes up no weapon — a god who works through others' choices.
Where it is argued
- Krishna's counsel to Arjuna — Arjuna asks to be driven between the two armies, sees his own family waiting on both sides, and puts down his bow.
- The Rajasuya sacrifice — Yudhishthira's consecration as emperor — the height of the Pandavas' fortune, and the sight that decides Duryodhana to act.
Who embodies it
- Krishna — Cousin, envoy and charioteer — the one who shapes the war's course without ever lifting a weapon in it.
- Arjuna — The archer the whole war is arranged around, who arrives at its opening unable to lift his bow because of who is standing on the other side.
