Why Krishna failed to prevent the war?

Came across this question- If Krishna is “all powerful” and “God”, then why couldn’t he prevent the Kurukshetra war?

The answer is simple. This world provides you with boundaries and free will. The boundaries are the events which you cannot prevent or have any control over. Situations arise in your life without your choice and many times, without your awareness or readiness. They are not in your control. Gradually or suddenly, you land up in a situation which you never anticipated and did not want to be in. At the same time, you have your choices and decisions which you make solely. The Kauravas were provided the choice of peace. But they chose war. But this takes us to another question- Why did the Kauravas choose war?

Let’s have a look at this analogy- You have a friend who is planning to do something risky and adventurous in life. You get to know about it and based on your knowledge and wisdom, you tell your friend, “Hey, hold on! This may hurt you.” But your friend insists that he wants to try it out. This is an important thing in his life now and he wants to achieve it. The friend doesn’t listen. Finally, you decide to stop interfering, wait, and watch what happens. Over a period of time, the friend falls in the chosen pit. It takes a toll to come out of it. Sometimes a big one. The lesson is, at times, we need to fall in a pit so that we can learn. Learning from “others’ experiences” does not always work. Because those experiences, the pain and the learnings are not yet yours. Someone else experienced it, but not you. Your mind hasn’t experienced that pinch. Instead, it is raring to go. So, what made you chose these ambitious goals? Your desires? Cravings? Whatever, till you weren’t annihilated, these impressions of desires had possibly no way to vent out.

The impressions that the Kauravas came with needed lessons. We know about the Draupadi incident during the game of the dice. Where did the Kauravas learn to behave like this? They certainly didn’t learn from their training in the kingdom. The Pandavas, after all, belonged to the same family. These traits certainly came from the impressions gathered before they were born together as siblings. To learn their lessons, they needed to fail in a war. Beyond a doubt, they chose the war.

But there’s more to it than just the learnings of the Kauravas. The plans of the divine are always perfect. Most of the times, they look chaotic. But they are well structured and planned to meet multiple objectives through any event.

This war made the great Gangaputra Bhisma, the invincible, fight valiantly and passionately for the first 10 days. In his valor, he even hurled a few arrows at Krishna, the one whom he bowed down to with reverence later in the battlefield when Krishna marched towards him with the Sudarshan Chakra. And finally, when he grew content with the war and the world, when he no longer felt the will to fight, he gave away the key to his eventual death to the Pandavas. But this required Bhishma to express his valor and fearlessness on the battlefield, take the pain of the arrows on his body for the first 10 days of the war. Not only Bhishma, but all the great warriors and soldiers fought fearlessly. Gurudev says that the only reason that wars happen and will continue to happen is because they are a medium for many to express valor. The one who was stumbling, Arjuna, too finally fought fearlessly.

Besides fulfilling many other objectives which may be beyond the purview of our knowledge or wisdom, the war gave the world the book of wisdom – the Bhagawad Geeta - to the countless minds who were to be born later, till today and in the future.

So, it’s good to ponder over this question- Who was responsible for the war? The divine or the individual minds?