section_path: Themes covered/The Gita and War/Promotion of just war and duty
section_name: Promotion of just war and duty
paragraph_text: Promotion of just war and duty
  
  Other scholars such as Steven Rosen, Laurie L. Patton and Stephen Mitchell have seen in the Gita a religious defense of the warrior class' (Kshatriya Varna) duty (svadharma), which is to wage war with courage. They do not see only an allegorical teaching but also a real defense of just war.
  
  Indian independence leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar Tilak saw the Gita as a text which defended war when necessary and used it to promote armed rebellion against colonial rule. Lajpat Rai wrote an article on the "Message of the Bhagavad Gita". He saw the main message as the bravery and courage of Arjuna to fight as a warrior. Bal Gangadhar Tilak saw the Gita as defending killing when necessary for the betterment of society, such as, for example, the killing of Afzal Khan.