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In the Geeta in the Mahabharata, there's a moment where Krishna is asked by Arjun (to paraphrase): "if I withhold my vengeance so many lives will be saved. For what then should I proceed?" He asks god Krishna.
What philosophical moves does the god make to justify the coming war?
If you read between the lines, you will understand that neither the Gita nor the Mahabharata advocates war with weapons. Also, the consequences of war described in the Mahabharata indicates that wars with weapons bring only miseries. If you read this part of the Mahabharata you will never say that the Gita and the Mahabharata is for war with weapons. It was due to Arjuna’s misunderstanding another Gita (Anugita) became necessary.
The Anugita contains sections on what constitutes the duties of a good human being. For example, in chapter 23, it states the best quality and the duties of the good are: Joy, pleasure, nobility, enlightenment and happiness also, absence of stinginess, absence of fear, contentment, faith, forgiveness, courage, harmlessness (ahimsa), equability, truth, straight forwardness, absence of wrath (akrodha), absence of calumniation, purity, dexterity, valor. (...) Devoid of the notion that this or that is mine, devoid of egoism, devoid of expectations, equable everywhere, not full of desires, to be such is eternal duty of the good. — Anugita, Translator: Kashinath Trimbak Telang
A man, if he has been transformed into a new man by listening to the Gita, he will never go into battle armed. So Krishna's advice was not to fight with weapons; but many people who didn't read the Mahabharata or the Gita believe wrongly.
For more details: https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-anugita
The word Kshatriya etymologically means one who saves others from wound.
This quote is from the Gitat https://asitis.com/3/37.html . All these show that the enemies are not outside but inside.
The ‘weapon of knowledge’ mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita should not be unnoticed.
How did Krishna justify war?
War is always happening inside everyone. So ‘fight’ is necessary to win the ‘war’. In this sense Krishna justified war.
A 'panacea' (the Gita) for people working in different walks of life should not be misinterpreted as a mere battle or war using weapons. If it were so, billions of people should have already died after reading these scriptures.
The Mahabharata says that even Arjuna misunderstood Krishana’s words as an exhortation to fight with weapons. I believe that no religion, if properly understood, can be interpreted as an advice for killing others.
How did Krishna justify war?
I found one on-line reference to this. https://krishna.org/arjunas-bewilderment/ (October 23, 2022). It does not look like Krishna has a philosophical justification for war; he just wants obedience from Arjuna.
So the real point of Bhagavad-gita is surrender to Krishna. Not to do one’s duty. Actually one’s duty is to surrender to Krishna and Krishna concludes His instructions to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita by saying exactly this:
“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.” (Bg. 18.66)
This is a very clear conclusion and final instruciton [sic] from Krishna to Arjuna. All over the world people have invented so many dharmas, or occupations, or religions and Krishna is concluding here that Arjuna should give up all these dharmas or religions and simply surrender unto Him. So this is Krishna’s real message, the real conclusion of Bhagavad-gita. Surrender to Krishna. This is the main message.
I admittedly know little of Hindu philosophy. Is this what you were looking for?
The Gita says it is better to do one’s own dharma poorly than to do another’s well. Dharma is the social and cultural obligations determined by birth into a caste. As a Kṣatriya, he is a member of the warrior caste, and thus obligated to fight the battles incumbent upon him and his social role. It is also a dig against Buddhism, since Buddha was also a kṣatriya, but obviously chose a different path, a different dharma.
The Gita, despite the tremendous attention and admiration globally showered on it, at bottom is an extremely conservative text.
To understand Krishna's final verdict, it is important to understand the cause of war between Pandavas and Kauravas. It was due to unjust takeover of Pandavas right and property by Kauravas. Extrapolate the scenario to current Russia Ukraine war, where powerful Russian leader unjustifiably wants to control over Ukraine. During the time frame of Mahabharata different strata of society had different functions and responsibilities. Kshatriyas were warriors responsible for protecting the nation. During the course of encouraging Arjuna, the most powerful among Pandavas to do his duty Krishna unfolds the philosophy how a person / soul to live and understand ultimate truth; to perform one's duties selflessly without worrying about its fruits, for betterment of all. Finally, Krishna explains he encompasses the entire universe and every entity in this universe is part of himself. I understand, when one surrenders itself totally to Him the All-pervasive, he/she performs his task with best of his ability without any fear.
