Does surrendering to Krishna means not caring for our material responsibilities?
Does surrendering to Krishna mean not caring for our material things? No, no.
No. Surrendering to Krishna means more of making Krishna the primary goal of our life and accepting that which is favorable to Krishna and avoiding that which is unfavorable. So, if we could even say that for that matter, when Arjuna was fighting the Kurukshetra war, not having a kingdom, we could have said it's a material problem.
Not having? Not having the kingdom. Living in a forest, we could have said that is a material problem. So, it was not material because he wanted the kingdom so that he could use, he could get the citizens on the cause of dharma.
As a dharmic ruler, he would have got the citizens on the cause of dharma. But it was a material position which he was spiritualizing. And Krishna inspired him to fight the war.
So, similarly, we should not simplistically reject our problems or our responsibilities as only material. We have to see them even the material comes from Krishna. And even the material is connected with Krishna.
Material energy is also Krishna's energy. That's why if we connect it with Krishna and we don't let the material predominate our consciousness so much that we don't serve Krishna properly. The material problems become so dominant in our consciousness that we can't do anything for Krishna.
Till this problem is solved, I won't practice bhakti. You shouldn't think like this. But while practicing bhakti, we can do what is in our capacity to solve the problem.
But sometimes, bhakti doesn't mean that we don't try to solve the problem. Surrender to Krishna means that we make Krishna the primary goal of our life, primary purpose of our life and we reorient everything in his service. So, if we have problems, don't become problem conscious in terms of constantly thinking about a problem, thinking about a problem.
Focus on being Krishna conscious and then with that Krishna consciousness do what we can to deal with the problems. But if the material problem is not solving… I am not having a job. I am trying to get a job for such a long time but I am not getting a job.
See, the material problem is not solvable, then we need to recognize that sometimes there is some karmic complication which requires some problems. So, sometimes say, if somebody gets an infection because of which some wounds, some sores come on the body. Now, those sores are… you know, you cannot just cut them off and remove them.
They may have to be treated and the treatment may take some time. So, maybe for a week or for a month those boils may be there on the body but they will go away. Sometimes like that in our karma, by some karmic complications, certain problems may just be there for some time.
So, we try what we can to solve them but we don't have to get obsessed by them. See, not having job is a serious problem but it is not the end of the world. It is not that just because you don't have a job, tomorrow I will be starving.
It will happen eventually but the thing is that sometimes there are two extremes. One is we make the problem much much bigger than what it is that it cripples us and the other is we make the problem so small that we don't care for it. Both extremes have to be avoided.
So, if I don't have a job, then I have to look for a job and we should decide if I had a job, I will spend 8 hours on it. So, I will spend some amount of time everyday looking for jobs. Try this option, try this option, try this option.
Maybe develop this skill or learn this or whatever. We try wholeheartedly for this. But our Krishna connection is not meant to be a substitute for our efforts for doing our material responsibilities.
It is meant to be a director, a guide for our material, our execution of our material responsibilities. So, strive wholeheartedly to get a job and don't when we depend on Krishna, pray to Krishna. Krishna, you also know that I am in this problem.
Please guide me as to how I can deal with this problem. If you have a devotee community, you can ask the devotee community also if some openings are there. And whatever is practical, do that.
But don't let anxiety rule your consciousness. What happens is if you know naturally, there is some amount of anxiety is there and it is essential. But what happens if you worry too much about not having a job, that itself may become such a burden that whatever efforts we could put in trying to get a job now, we may not be able to put those efforts also because of the paralysis.
So, don't let that happen. Just keep on doing what we can and try to stay connected with Krishna so that you have calmness, so that you have perspective, so that you have a higher connection in your life. And if you look back at your life 10 years ago, 20 years ago, you may have had some problem by which you thought that if I don't pass this exam, it will be the end of my life.
If I don't make this decision, it will be the end of life. Storms come in our life. And we talk about things being temporary in life.
You know, all material pleasures are temporary. That's why we should not pursue material pleasures, we say. But the fact is it applies to problems also.
Just as material pleasures are temporary, material problems are also temporary. So, even now, when will this solve, it will not solve, but it's not like that. Material problems will also be solved in the course.
So, just hang on and do the best that you can. And things will work out. And also, in my case, I am single only.
I am not having.