MARK M.: Please speak to us on the importance of war, It seems that until only recently it was always considered to be man's noblest occupation. Both Eastern and Western Epics and holy books are filled with wars. The history of of the world is mainly the history of wars. Today we live under the threat of the ultimate war. What can we think of this? How do we relate to nonviolence?

BABA: Why should you be under the shadow of any fear? Even if there were no war, are we going to live forever? There are many countries which do not get involved in Wars. Do the people there enjoy everlasting life?

God is performing three functions constantly: creation, sustenance, and destruction. War is nothing but the destructive aspect of God.

The wars that were fought in ancient times, particularly in ancient India, were fought under certain principles. I am not talking about modern wars. In those days inhuman tactics were not used. Sources of drinking water were not poisoned, children and old men were not massacred and cities and towns were not set on fire at night. In the Mahabharata certain principles relating to war were laid down. A warrior must not kill women, he must not kill children, he must particularly take care of pregnant women, and he must not kill the aged. Warriors were supposed to fight only with warriors.

Modern war is, however, very different. It doesn't seem to follow any principles. Just as man changes his character according to the age he lives in, wars also change their character according to the age in which they are fought. Whether a war is just or unjust, it springs from attachment and aversion. It springs from desire. There have been so many wars in the past; why should you be scared of future wars? Whatever is inevit- able will happen. If a war has to happen, it will happen; nobody can prevent it.

But first you should think about the war going on inside you, and that war is far more destructive than any outer war. The war between India and Pakistan was confined to a certain area and it lasted for a certain length of time. Even a nuclear war will not last long. The war inside you lasts all the time, and it is far more dangerous than any outer war.

You should not worry about outer wars; worry about the inner war. The irony of your life is that you want peace, but what you get inside is agitation; you want love, but what you feel inside is hatred. You want serenity, but what you find inside is disturbance. First you should understand this contradiction and try to remove it from your life.

It all depends on what the trend of the time is. There is a time when there is a surge of creative activity, with scientists, engineers, and architects building up things; and then there comes a time for destruction, when bombs are manufactured and whatever has been built up is destroyed. So there are doers of good as well as doers of evil in this world. It has been like this from time immemorial, and it will continue to be like this until the end of the world.

For this reason one should take refuge in discrimination and try to find out the means to save oneself. Lord Krishna says to Arjuna in the Gita that this world is transitory and he should become aware of this and contemplate the inner Self. The world doesn't have much value, it may end any day. So you should concentrate on the inner Self. One wonders how many kings and warriors and artists and writers have appeared on the scene of this world and disappeared. Some of them were creative while others were destructive, but none of them survived.

There was a poet- saint, a very good poet-saint called Narayana and he says that one should be aware of two things in the world. The first is the Lord, and the second is death.