Why does Krishna send problems that take devotees away from him?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
If we say that Krishna always does things so that they can help a devotee grow in bhakti, but then sometimes things happen, multiple problems come in a devotee’s life because of which a devotee’s faith weakens and the devotee goes away, new person especially goes away from Krishna.
Why does Krishna do such things? Firstly, again, it is not Krishna doing it. So that differentiation has to be very clear. Whenever problems are coming, it is not Krishna like a dictator sending problems into our life.
Like a dictator may send some troops to arrest or plunder someone. Krishna is not like that. We need to separate Krishna and karma to some extent.
So problems come as a result of past karma. They do not come because of Krishna. Having said that, there is the fact that sometimes some problems can cause a person to go away from Krishna.
But this comes because we half-trust Krishna. Krishna, when we understand he is God, that means he is omnipotent and he is also omniscient. Omnipotent means he has great power.
Omniscient means he has great knowledge. All knowledge you could say, all power, all knowledge. Normally speaking, when we go to God, we feel I have this problem and this is the solution for this problem.
And I don’t have the power to solve this problem myself. Therefore, I go to God and ask him for this solution. So what we are doing essentially is we are saying Krishna, let’s form a partnership.
Partnership is my intelligence and your power. So I have the solution to the problem and now you use your power to implement the solution. So this is, we have faith in Krishna, but we have only faith in one aspect of Krishna, that is his power.
But if we understand Krishna is omniscient, that means we will understand Krishna’s intelligence is also greater than mine. So then, certainly with our intelligence we can pray Krishna, this is what I feel is the solution to this problem. So please help me.
Please help me solve this problem. But, if we understand Krishna is more intelligent than me, then we will also be open to Krishna’s solution. So that let die will be then not mine.
That kind of surrender if we have, then we may be able to see some good also happening over there. The bad is there, but along with that some good may happen. We say that sometimes when we shake a mango tree, don’t be blind to the falling of apples.
Sometimes I may shake a mango tree and not a single mango falls, but at the same time a wind comes and a nearby tree an apple falls down. So I was hungry, I needed food. So I may not have got a mango, but I got an apple.
So like that, sometimes we pray and strive for a particular solution. And we let our expectation completely shape our perception. Means I think this has to be solved in this way only.
And if it is not solved in this way, then it is not solved at all. So I am expecting a mango, and if a mango doesn’t fall, I feel I am lost. But if we stay open, solution may not come in the terms we expect, but a solution may come in some other way.
And that openness to Krishna comes when we have an understanding that Krishna’s intelligence is more than mine. So certainly on the path of bhakti, faith is required. But that faith is not just a blind faith in an arbitrary God.
God can do anything and I just have to accept it. It is not like that. Krishna is a loving God and what we have is a reasonable faith based on understanding of who Krishna is.
So faith in one sense it means just taking one step forward when we can’t see the whole way ahead. So if we keep moving forward, doing what we can in our situation, we will see light at the end of the tunnel. And that particular, we shouldn’t let our expectation limit our perception.
Expectation will naturally direct the perception. If I am shaking a mango tree, actually I look up to see where mangoes are falling. So that focus will be there, but I can look elsewhere also.
We try for a solution according to our understanding, but then we also remain open to other solutions that may come. And we see this several times, say, in the Mahabharata. When Arjuna, he was tempted by Urvashi and he had gone to heaven.
And Arjuna said no to her. Actually, Urvashi is an apsara, she is stunningly beautiful. And for Arjuna to say no to her was a great act of sense control.
And what was the result of that? He cursed him. Actually, if somebody does sense control, we expect they will be appreciated, rewarded. But he is cursed.
And what is the curse? That you will lose your masculinity. Now for a Kshatriya to lose his masculinity is a terrible thing. And he had no idea how that will be of any use.
But among all the Pandavas, Arjuna was the most famous. And Arjuna although Vishnu was the king, Arjuna was far more celebrated. But for Arjuna to hide in the Agyatvas would have been very difficult.
But that curse became a blessing for him in the Agyatvas when he became Brihannala. So at that time he had no idea that this curse will work out for my good. But it did work out.
Actually, he was very disturbed. Then he said to Indra, this is what happened. Indra said, things will work out for good.
So, we may not know, but if we understand this principle that Krishna knows better than me what is good for me, then we can take slowly steps forward and that how our Krishna is doing his good, how good can come out of whatever is happening, that will be revealed to us.