Question: In Bhagavad-gita (1.32-35), Prabhupada mentions “At that point he (Arjuna) did not know that Krsna had already killed them before their coming into the battlefield…”. My question is, if the soul is indestructible and if Bhishma and Dronacharya were physically present on the battlefield then what did Prabhupada mean by saying ‘Krsna had already killed them’?
Answer by Romapada Swami: The first part of your question is ‘If the soul is indestructible, then how can Krishna kill Bhisma and Drona?’ For that matter, how can anybody be killed? This killing does not refer to the annihilation of the soul, but just to the destruction of material body.
The 2nd part of your question is ‘Bhisma and Drona were present on the battlefield, so how is that they are already killed?’ Krishna is Time personified, and He is knower of past, present and future. He had decided that Bhisma and Drona should be killed in this battle, and just by His will, they were already destined to die, whether Arjuna fought the battle or not. That is what Srila Prabhupada means when he says that they were already killed. Krishna Himself says so in a later chapter (refer to BG 11. 27-33) where He shows His universal form and Arjuna then sees all the soldiers being devoured by the Universal Form in the manifestation of Time.
