The participation of Krsna in the battle of Kuruksetra is a confusing point to many. Some question how God can become personally involved in a fratricidal war, or argue that Krsna was wrong or not merciful in telling Arjuna to fight in the war. They completely miss the point.
The war of Kuruksetra was going to happen not exactly because of the intervention of Krsna, but because of the previous actions of Duryodhana and his group. Yudhisthira was the rightful heir to the throne and also the most pious and qualified to rule, but Duryodhana was trying to usurp the throne, first by cheating the Pandavas and forcing them to go into exile, and later by flatly refusing to give the kingdom back.
There were many attempts to settle the situation by peaceful means by just dividing the kingdom. Krsna personally went to offer a peace settlement to Duryodhana, proposing that he would give just five villages for the Pandavas to rule, but he flatly refused with the famous statement that he would not spare even the land where a pin could be fixed. Due to the refusal of Duryodhana to come to a settlement, the war became inevitable. In other words, Duryodhana and his group planted, and now they were about to reap the fruits of their actions, as conducted by ordinary cause and effect.
On Bg 11.32, Krsna declares: “Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you [the Pāṇḍavas], all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.”
The word used here for time is “Kala”, which is the universal time that propitiates all the changes and transformations the universe and all its inhabitants go through. This Kala or universal time is one of the energies of Krsna, and in this verse, Krsna speaks as Kala. It’s important to understand that all of Krsna’s expansions, such as Lord Vishnu and Paramatma, as well as all Krsna’s energies are merged into the body of Krsna, Who is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krsna includes Paramatma, Lord Vishnu, Kala, and so on, and thus during the Bhagavad-Gita He sometimes speaks directly as Krsna, and sometimes speaks as Paramatma, as Lord Vishnu, as the Universal Form, as Kala, and so on.
Karma works under the influence of Kala, this eternal time. Although both material time and karma are considered eternal, or beginningless, that’s not in the same sense as the true eternality of the spiritual world. Material time is eternal in the sense that it is not possible to trace its origin (any number that is too large to be counted can be called “infinite”), but it is not eternal in the same sense as the spiritual eternal. In the same way, karma is also eternal in the sense that it is not possible to trace its origin, but in any case, it has an end, that happens when the soul becomes free from material contamination.
Karma is also not random. It happens as a response to our own actions. In this sense, there are no injustices, since everyone is reaping what was planted in the past. All the people who died in the battle of Kuruksetra were thus already supposed to die due to the reactions to their past sinful activities. What Krsna did, however, was to create a situation where these warriors, who were about to die in battle due to the course of their karma were given a chance of being liberated. Personalities like Duryodhana or Dusasana were not supposed to achieve liberation, but due to the mercy of Krsna, they were purified and allowed to achieve liberation, just like great yogis.
The personal intervention of Krsna was thus the greater good of everyone involved. He became the charioteer of Arjuna, so He could protect His devotee by keeping Him out of harm by expertly moving the chariot, and by speaking the Bhagavad-Gita and being present on the battlefield He purified the heart of all fighters, so they could achieve liberation upon losing their lives in battle.
Yudhishthira was supposed to be the King because he was extremely pious, while Duryodhana, Karna, and others were supposed to the killed due to their past mistakes. However, by being present on the battlefield, Krsna created an auspicious situation that allowed them to be awarded the ultimate good, achieving liberation.
As Srila Prabhupada points out:
“The Lord diminished the duration of life of the opposite party by His merciful glance. It is said that all the fighters who assembled on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra attained salvation by personally seeing the Lord at the time of death. Therefore, His diminishing the duration of life of Arjuna’s enemy does not mean that He was partial to the cause of Arjuna. Factually He was merciful to the opposite party because they would not have attained salvation by dying at home in the ordinary course of life. Here was a chance to see the Lord at the time of death and thus attain salvation from material life. Therefore, the Lord is all good, and whatever He does is for everyone’s good. Apparently it was for the victory of Arjuna, His intimate friend, but factually it was for the good of Arjuna’s enemies. Such are the transcendental activities of the Lord, and whoever understands this also gets salvation after quitting this material body. The Lord does no wrong in any circumstance because He is absolute, all good at all times.” (SB 1.9.35 purport)
There is also something from this we can take to our personal lives. All the pastimes narrated in the Bhagavad-Gita as well as in the Srimad Bhagavatam and other scriptures are not just historical narrations but also covey important lessons and examples we should try to understand and practice.
Just like Krsna was personally present with Arjuna, driving His chariot and giving him instructions, Krsna is also personally present in our hearts as Paramatma. As Srila Prabhupada explains, we depend on His sanction and empowerment to do anything. Even a materialist depends on the sanction of Paramatma to perform his activities. Paramatma in His turn maintains neutrality, empowering everyone to perform activities according to their desires and the results of their past activities. Sometimes however, due to some causeless mercy, Krsna breaks from this neutrality and tries to free the soul from the shackles of material existence, creating conditions for the soul to achieve liberation, just as in the case of the battle of Kuruksetra. He may do so by killing demons, being present on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, or by any other means, and all these interventions result in the ultimate good.
In the case of a devotee, however, Krsna can participate in his life in a much more active way. On the measure we surrender to Krsna, trying to understand the instructions He gives us through the Bhagavad-Gita, the spiritual masters, and other devotees, and acting accordingly, we allow Krsna to drive our chariot, and not only give us instructions but directly guide our actions. Just like Arjuna had the mission of fighting in the battle and assisting Maharaja Maharaja Yudhisthira in achieving victory and becoming a saintly king, we also have our own missions in life, which we can understand and fulfill when we agree to be under the direction of Krsna.
When we do that, we don’t only achieve the ultimate goal for ourselves, by serving Krsna and gradually becoming pure devotees, but we also allow Him to use us to do good to others, helping them to also achieve the ultimate goal.