Indian man: Swamiji, most of our Hindus accept Lord Krsna as our Supreme Being, as God. Yet in the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna won’t fight his brothers, but Lord Krsna encouraged this, to fight his own brothers, to kill his own brothers, to shed blood. Isn’t this condoning violence? Yet Hinduism doesn’t condone violence. Can you explain why Lord Krsna encourages Arjuna to fight his own blood?
Prabhupada: If you can question the high-court judge why he is ordering somebody to be hanged, then what will be the answer? The high-court judge orders somebody to be hanged and somebody to take decree for one lakh of rupees. Is there injustice? It is the law. The Supreme Lord has to execute the law. So there is no mistake. As there is no mistake in the judgment of the high court, similarly, what to speak of Krsna, the Supreme Lord. There is a necessity. The government, in order to keep law and order, there is violence also. The police sometimes commit violence, the military force. So in order to keep the whole thing in balance, sometimes violence is required, and that is not to our whims but at the decision of the Supreme Lord.
(Bhagavad-gita 7.1 — October 9, 1975, Durban)