Maybe- this is also what Krishna meant

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।

This, by far, is the most famous line from Geeta that I know of. The way I remember the whole thing is from my childhood's favorite series  'Mahabharat' . In the 'war zone' while fighting against his own cousins, Arjun had second thoughts about the war. He was looking at his family members and was sadden about the whole war ordeal. He feared that he may actually end up hurting  his family including "Bhishma"- his beloved grandfather. During this very tender moment, Krishna revealed himself as God and explained Arjun that as a "Yoddha" it is his true duty towards his citizens to act like warrior for their good. My very frugal knowledge of Geeta also tells me that Krishna explained Arjun about birth-rebirth concept, Karma concept  and a solution of  what needs to be done to end this Karmic chakra- basically to achieve Nirvana. Krishna nudged Arjun to stop being coward by not finishing his assigned job of fighting for good. 

Now, as much as I am happy with this outcome of good winning over evil, it left a slight conundrum inside. What if Arjun would have chosen second path of leaving the war. Not out of fear, but with good intent of love for his family and his citizens. My basic instinct tells me that he would have been shamed and ridiculed by "Kauravas" and his dear brothers "pandavas"  would have felt betrayed .  Most likely, in that scenario, Krishna would have still helped pandavas and pandavas would have still won the war. Would making this choice of leaving the war would have made Arjun a coward ?  Of course, it would have been totally divergent path compared to what is expected from a warrior prince. Lets go forward with this very assumption- Arjun chossing to leave the war but with a solid explanation. What if Arjun would have explained earnestly that  as a warrior it is his duty to protect people of his kingdom- the ones that he will end up fighting against and shedding their blood. Also, what if he would have openly talked about his vulnerability, his love for his family. After all, the war was between cousin  brothers who disagreed. Few decades after the war, Arjun would have been mostly forgotten for not participating or even would have got bad name. Nonetheless, there is a minuscule possibility that Arjun would have been visionary ending up avoiding war. Can you imagine the best warrior in the world choosing the path of peace-  even when he knew that God is on his side? Only a super crazy or  super courageous person could do that. I agree that wars are inevitable sometimes and soldiers and leaders even line up their lives to protect their country. And this act of selflessness is revered universally. The situation with Arjun was slightly different though. He wanted to back out. He didn't wanted to fight. And that is why him choosing this path of backing out  would have been aligned with his views and believes. And he would have chosen this path with no guarantee of results.  I believe it could have opened up a different way of thinking even at those times. One could have followed Arjun's path of diplomacy and compassion and  would have felt free to make such hard life choices not just by their basic training ( basic Dharma) but also by considering emotions of self and others. This could have opened a possibility for other warriors to walk away from violence in spite of what social norm of 'do or die' says.  

What would you prefer in given situation? A war between countries just because leaders are not getting along or more diplomatic path forward. I know for certain that almost all of us would prefer peace. And if we prefer peace then won't it be arrogant of us  to assume people of those times wouldn't. Now, will I be bold to say that even Krishna would have been pleased with this choice. Here is why I think that. There are two examples come in my mind who have chosen such a radical path and have succeeded immensely at the same time. First- a warrior prince who chose this path of "peace"  thousands of years ago was Siddharth- who later became Buddha. . Being a brave prince, he not only wanted to protect his kingdom but wanted to protect the whole humankind from suffering. He tried his best to avoid wars. And looking at the end results here , Buddha did achieve Nirvana the very thing Krishna was preaching about. The other example is Gandhi-ji. His non-violence mantra was able to gather all the Indians behind him for the fight of independence against British raj. He did win this war successfully without violence. Is it even possible then that when Krishna meant to choose a path of good- he meant this one? A path of kindness and compassion.  -praj101