[James C. Bennett]

Also, do note that the Bhagavad Gita is also Krishna urging Arjuna to fight and kill his cousins.

Who were, don't forget, evil, and the war necessitated to the adherence to a strict code which included amongst other things, prohibition from attacking non-combatants, and cession of fighting after sundown.

This is far less morally repulsive than the mandated slaughter of innocent children in 1 Samuel 15:3, IMHO.

This was the case that was discussed in the following drama:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx7irFN2gdI

[Cronos]

The war's adherence to the strict code is the Aryanic code which prevailed in Aryanic lands from India-Iran to Europe. I was pointing out that Krishna in the Gita is basically urging Arjuna to fight his cousins (ok, fighting the embodiment of evil in the form of his cousins, I'll give you that).

And yet, 1 Samuel is not the Song of Solomon or the Sermon on the mount -- that is not a philosophical injunct, rather a historical statement of what happened. The parts of the Mahabharata that deal with the war and killing, I do not consider (and nor do Hindi philosophers) in the same light as the Gita. The Gita is meant to be something to take to heart, just like the Sermon on the Mount. 1 Samuel 15:3 is not something that is philosophy.