matkarmakrnmatparamo madbhaktah sangavarjitah

nirvairah sarvabhūtesu yah sa māmeti pāndava|

Only a worshipper who fulfills these four conditions can truly attain Lord Krishna. It scarcely needs to be said that when these four disciplines, as urged in the final verse of the chapter, are observed, the resulting state of being leaves no room for external war or physical bloodshed. This is yet another instance proving that the Gita is not about outward conflict. There is not a single verse in the scripture that advocates physical violence or killing. When we have offered ourselves completely through yajna (meditation), remember only God and none else, are wholly detached from both nature and the fruits of our actions, and harbor no malice towards any being — then with whom, and for what, shall we fight?

The four observances lead the worshipper to a stage where he stands entirely alone. When there is no one beside him, who then is there to fight? According to Lord Krishna, Arjun knew Him, this would be impossible if there were even the faintest trace of malice about him. It is thus evident that the battle fought by Arjun in the Gita is not against external foes, but against the formidable inner enemies of attachment and repulsion, infatuation and malice, desire and anger — all of which arise to obstruct the seeker when he undertakes the path of single-minded meditation after having attained detachment from worldly objects and the fruits of action.

mamaivāṁśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ|

manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati

Now, with the above exposition in view, let us analyze ourselves: Is the Bhagavad Gita truly an ‘extremist’ text or a scripture that promotes ‘social discord’?