Which verses give the strongest support to the view that Arjuna had no choice, and what do they say when read in their place? The question deserves its strongest form. Here we ask three things of each hard verse: to whom was it said, at what hour, and what follows it at once.
The finding is the same each time. The verses that seem to bind Arjuna speak of delusion and ego. Beside them stand the invitation to take refuge and the words "do as you wish". The Gita leaves the outcome with Time and the choice with Arjuna.
The claim in its strongest form
Four groups of verses are cited. First: the Lord is Time, the warriors will not remain even without Arjuna, they are already slain, and Arjuna is to be merely an instrument (Gita 11.32, Gita 11.33). Second: to say "I will not fight" out of ego is a false resolve, nature will drive you, and what you do not wish to do through delusion you will do helplessly (Gita 18.59, Gita 18.60). Third: the Lord dwells in all hearts and turns all beings by his power as if mounted on a machine (Gita 18.61). Fourth: even the wise act according to their nature, so what will restraint achieve (Gita 3.33)?
Put together, it looks as if all is settled: Time above, nature within, a machine between. The claim is not softened here. Each verse is taken in turn.
First hard verse: "already slain by me" (11.32-33)
मयैवैते निहताः पूर्वमेव निमित्तमात्रं भव सव्यसाचिन् ॥ ११.३३ ॥
Therefore arise and attain glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy a prosperous kingdom. By Me alone they have already been slain; be merely an instrument, O Savyasachi.
The Lord has shown his form as Time and says that "even without you" these warriors will not remain (Gita 11.32). It is said to Arjuna's fear and guilt. His first worry was that the sin of killing his kin would be on his head. The Lord says that the result was never placed in his hands. His burden grows lighter.
But the sentence begins with "arise" and goes on to "win glory". The command assumes someone who can rise. To one who has no option nobody says "arise"; he is simply lifted. Look also at the word "instrument". An instrument is that through which something is done, and it has no claim of its own on what is done. This is what the Lord had said before: your right is to action, not to the fruit (Gita 2.47).
The next verse names the warriors (Gita 11.34). Then comes Arjuna's reply: hands folded, trembling, bowing again and again, in a choked voice (Gita 11.35). This is the reply of a person, not of a puppet.
Second hard verse: "your nature will drive you" (18.59-60)
मिथ्यैष व्यवसायस्ते प्रकृतिस्त्वां नियोक्ष्यति ॥ १८.५९ ॥
If, relying on egoism, you think, 'I will not fight,' this resolve of yours is false; your own nature will compel you.
At first sight these are the harshest verses. See to whom they are said. The target is a particular "I will not fight": one that rests on ego. The Lord calls it a false resolve, because the nature from which Arjuna is made will engage him in that very work (Gita 18.59).
The next verse makes it clearer: what you do not wish to do through delusion, you will do helplessly (Gita 18.60). The word "helplessly" is tied to delusion. It is the man in delusion who is helpless before his own nature. The other side of it is in the Gita's last words: when the delusion is destroyed, Arjuna says that he now stands without doubt and will act (Gita 18.73). Helplessness was the state of delusion. It was not Arjuna's permanent condition.
Third hard verse: "mounted on a machine" (18.61)
भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया ॥ १८.६१ ॥
The Lord resides in the heart of all beings, O Arjuna, causing all beings to revolve, as though mounted on a machine, by His power of māyā.
The Lord is in the heart of all beings and by his power turns them as if they were mounted on a machine. Taken alone, this sentence is heavy. But it is not the final point of an argument. The next verse says: take refuge in him alone with your whole being, and by his grace you will reach supreme peace (Gita 18.62). The image of the machine describes how beings revolve in his power. Right beside it the way out, refuge, is given. And then:
विमृश्यैतदशेषेण यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥ १८.६३ ॥
Thus I have declared to you knowledge more secret than the secret. Reflect on this fully, and then do as you wish.
The Lord says he has told the most secret knowledge, and now Arjuna is to reflect fully and do as he wishes (Gita 18.63). If everything were fixed, there would be no room for "reflect" and "as you wish". The verse comes right after the harsh ones so that the reader does not draw a conclusion from them alone.
Fourth hard verse: "what will restraint achieve" (3.33)
Here the Lord admits that even the wise act according to their nature and all beings follow it, so mere forced suppression will achieve little (Gita 3.33). The pull of nature is really granted. But the next verse says that attraction and aversion lie in every object of the senses, and a person should not come under their sway, for they are enemies on the road to his good (Gita 3.34).
So there is a pull, and there is an answer to it: to see it and not to be ruled by it. In the same way he says: lift yourself by your own self and do not let yourself sink (Gita 6.5); the mind is a friend to one who has mastered it and an enemy to one who has not (Gita 6.6). That language belongs to someone who has something to do.
The hard verses at a glance
| Verse | To whom and at what hour | What follows in the text |
|---|---|---|
| 11.32-33: already slain, be an instrument | A fearful, guilt-ridden Arjuna, in the middle of the vision | "Arise", then Arjuna's trembling reply (11.35) |
| 18.59-60: nature will drive you, you will do it helplessly | A mind in delusion saying "I will not fight" out of ego | Refuge (Gita 18.62), then "do as you wish" (Gita 18.63) |
| 18.61: mounted on a machine | A description of beings turning in his power | The invitation to refuge (Gita 18.62) |
| 3.33: even the wise act by their nature | A grant that nature's pull is real | Do not come under attraction and aversion (3.34) |
Where does the Gita keep human effort?
Five causes are named for the success of any action: the seat, the doer, the instruments, the various efforts and destiny (Gita 18.14). The same five stand behind every act, right or wrong (Gita 18.15). The doer is not wiped out; he is counted among the five. And destiny is one of five, not the only one.
The point about ego is clear here. Actions are done by the qualities of nature, yet the mind deluded by ego takes "I am the doer" to be true (Gita 3.27). The fault lies not in being a doer but in being taken as the only one. One in whom the sense "I am the doer" is gone, and whose understanding does not cling to the fruit, is not bound by the act (Gita 18.17).
Two streams of readers
Those who read these verses go two ways, and in both Arjuna's choice remains.
In one stream, the Lord is the ground of all action, so freedom means recognising this ground, taking refuge, and giving up the claim on the fruit. Being an instrument is a form of that recognition. This stream reads the machine image (Gita 18.61) and the call to refuge (Gita 18.62) as one sentence.
In the other, the pull of the qualities of nature is strong, and freedom means not coming under attraction and aversion. This stream reads the pull of nature (Gita 3.33) with the call not to come under it (Gita 3.34), and takes the harsh words to be about an ego that has fallen into delusion (Gita 18.59, Gita 18.60).
Both meet at one point: the Lord leaves the choice to Arjuna (Gita 18.63), and Arjuna announces his decision himself (Gita 18.73).
Objections and replies
If they are already slain, what is left for Arjuna to decide?
The outcome is fixed, but the question before Arjuna was not about the outcome. It was: what shall I do at this hour, and in what spirit? The verse answers that question (Gita 11.33): arise, but without a claim on the fruit, merely as an instrument. The choice of act and of spirit stays in Arjuna's hands, and it is this choice that the Lord keeps open at the end (Gita 18.63).
Does "helplessly" mean Arjuna will do it whatever he wishes?
No. The helplessness in this verse is tied to delusion (Gita 18.60): "what you do not wish to do through delusion". It is about the mind that says "I will not" out of ego. Right after it come refuge (Gita 18.62) and "do as you wish" (Gita 18.63), and at the end, when delusion is gone, Arjuna's "I will act" (Gita 18.73).
Does the machine image remove all responsibility?
The Gita counts the doer among the causes of every act (Gita 18.15) and expects each being to choose rightly. That verse describes the condition of beings turning in his power, and gives the way out in the same breath. The aim of the verse is to remove pride, not responsibility.
Is "do as you wish" only a formality?
The Lord's wish is made clear, but the verse also makes clear that a decision is asked of Arjuna: "reflect fully". And Arjuna's answer is no formality. He describes the state of his mind: delusion gone, memory regained, doubt gone (Gita 18.73). An answer that carries the whole state of a mind cannot be called a formality.
Can "I am only an instrument" excuse a wrong act?
No. The instrument's attitude is the giving up of ego and of clinging to the fruit (Gita 3.27, Gita 18.17). The devotee the Gita holds dear acts for the Lord, takes him as the highest goal and is without enmity to all beings (Gita 11.55). An act done out of hatred, greed or anger does not meet that test of an instrument.
Questions the verses raise, answered from the Gita and the tradition
How can both the Lord's will and our effort be true?
The verses say directly that the Lord is Time and that he also says "arise" to Arjuna (Gita 11.32, Gita 11.33). Later the Gita puts the same thing in its list of causes: five causes bring any action to success, and the doer, the efforts and destiny are all among them (Gita 18.14). The tradition often speaks of effort and grace going together, as ploughing a field and rain falling. That is the tradition's image, not a verse of the Gita (needs a source).
Then in what does freedom lie?
The Gita names it in several places. In lifting oneself by one's own self (Gita 6.5). In not coming under attraction and aversion (Gita 3.34). In taking refuge and then choosing after reflection (Gita 18.62, Gita 18.63). And in keeping the right to action while leaving the fruit (Gita 2.47).
What does Arjuna's own last answer show?
It shows that Arjuna spoke after reflection, not on receiving an order. He thanks the Lord's grace, but "I will act" is his own verb (Gita 18.73). A teaching that begins with the word "instrument" ends with Arjuna's own decision.
How should one with a hard task hear the word "instrument"?
Do the act, but do not carry the burden of the result alone (Gita 2.47), and do not do it with enmity (Gita 11.55). The word "instrument" lightens the load; it does not erase the will. The fuller account is in Merely an Instrument.
All three layers can be gathered in one sentence: the verses give the direction (the outcome with Time, the choice with Arjuna), the rest of the Gita gives the way (effort, restraint and refuge), and the tradition gives the images (effort with grace).
What was consulted
Only the verses of the Gita were consulted here. The two streams of readers are given unnamed and need to be checked against a source. The tradition's image of effort and grace is likewise marked for checking.
Going deeper
The shorter form of this question is in the In Depth reading. For the whole passage on being an instrument, see Merely an Instrument. The Lord's last words are in The Final Counsel, Arjuna's answer is in Delusion Gone: I Will Act, and the whole road is in Arjuna, Our Mirror.