Does God take credit for our good deeds and give us blame for our bad deeds?
Question does God take credit only for our good deeds and we pay the price for our bad deeds that would be like a father getting the credit of the son succeeds in the exam and this father and the son getting the blame if he fails okay there are I want to say it's like that actually there is a there is a there is a karmic reality and there is a relational reality in the relational reality the idea is we like to give credit to those who have helped us those who have encouraged us. Does a devotee say that whatever I have been able to do it's by Krishna's mercy and even acharyas have had that mood when they write if there's anything good in this writing it's the grace of the acharya, it's the grace of my teachers and grace of God and if there are any mistakes in what I have done that there I am responsible for that so that is a mood which is which is also there and that reflects a person's consciousness but the same time the book the author will put their own name on the book the author won't put you see God's name or the teacher's name on a book that they have written when Prabhupada when he wrote his books he said Krishna dictated his books to him but Prabhupada did not put Krishna's name as the author of his books Prabhupada put his own name as the author of the books so ultimately we are all responsible for our actions and based on the kind of actions that we do we will get the results so if somebody acts in a particular way then accordingly they will get the result of it so they will get if somebody does good somebody does bhakti it's they who will get elevated yes if they get elevated even that guru gets the credit those who brought them to Krishna also gets the credit but ultimately it is they who get elevated and liberated every soul has its own journey and if we do something wrong the karmic consequences for the wrong also come to us it's not that others have to suffer for us now is Krishna responsible for our misdeeds not exactly because we are souls who have been given free will and yes for children who are minor that understanding is there that if a minor does something wrong then it is the adults who are held responsible if a child does something wrong and say that oh the parents are responsible but it's a very small amount of time once the person becomes an adult then the parents are no longer responsible then it is they themselves who are responsible and that's how the normal way of life is so from the philosophical or karmic perspective each one of us gets what gets what we do if you do get good we get good result if you do bad you get bad result but from a relational perspective we are all interconnected and we are connected with Krishna also so naturally things move up and down over there and we get results according to what we do but as a devotee we consider that we alone cannot do anything so we give credit to Krishna so if Arjun fights archery in a fierce way and wins a war then Arjun will give credit to Krishna saying that it is by Krishna's grace that I was able to do this but Krishna simply doesn't take the credit and be satisfied with that Krishna actually goes and say that Arjun you are a wonderful warrior you are doing it so therefore there is a principle of reciprocity over here so the mood of the Bhagavad Gita is that to think that we are the sole doers that is the illusion to think that I alone am this doer that is an illusion but to understand that there are other doers apart from me also other factors involved which determine the results that is proper knowledge and is that knowledge which we all need to gain if you want to function holistically so if we do good and if we do bad in all situations we are one of the doers and factors beyond us are also the doers Dushyasan wanted to disrobe Draupadi he was a doer it was his desire at the same time he couldn't do it because some factors beyond him intervene but Duryodhana wanted to gamble Duryodhana wanted to defraud the Pandavas and rob them of their kingdom and he was able to do that but in either case Dushyasan was held responsible and Duryodhana was held responsible for their actions now whether we succeed in doing particular actions or not that alone doesn't determine our karmic culpability though of course somebody attempts a murder and somebody actually commits a murder the karmic culpability will be much more for somebody who is committing the murder but still the fact is that even the intent to murder or the attempt to murder is also makes one culpable that is how we work towards recognizing that every one of us has to move onwards in our life and do the best that we can so the idea is that we want to grow in our devotional consciousness so if we think we are soul doer that's an illusion and we are not also connecting with Krishna but when we are able to do something constructively we understand that it is Krishna who is doing it for us Krishna who is also ensuring that what we do the results come out of that and that's how Krishna is also a primary doer not we alone we are the initiating doer but without Krishna doing it Krishna sanctioning it Krishna arranging everything else to happen it won't happen.