Amidst suffering should we see that Krishna has chosen us to go through this for some purpose?

Answer Podcast

So, we see suffering as the grace of Krishna and it’s specifically coming to me, that means Krishna has chosen me, there must be some purpose for it. Yes. Let’s look at some scriptures, how they look at it.
The most famous verse for talking about suffering is tattvenukampam samikshamano bhunjaneva atmakrutam vikavo ruddhva gopurdhir vidham namaste jivet yo muktipadesa daibhag. Now, here, let’s look at each line to try to understand what is he saying. Tattvenukampam samikshamano.
This is your mercy, this is Brahmaji praying to Krishna. The thinking of it, thinking of the suffering, tattvenukampam samikshamano and things like this, you know, samikshamano with the eyes of knowledge. Bhunjaneva, that person endures, what is it? Atmakrutam vipakam.
It is my own action that I am suffering. So, then what is the, so, now Prabhupada explains over here that the devotee sees the suffering as minimized by Krishna. But here what the verse itself is saying is that the devotee sees it as your mercy, that is your mercy, I am suffering my own karma.
Tattvenukampam samikshamano bhunjaneva atmakrutam. It is very clear. The devotee is not holding Krishna responsible for the suffering.
My own karma I am suffering. And the most important thing is rudhvaagvapurabhir vidadam namaste, that with the heart, with the body and with the speech, one offers obeisances to the Lord. Jivetayo, one who lives like this, muktipade sadai bhag, that person has become entitled to liberation, to attaining eternal life with Krishna.
That means, the most important thing over here is rudhvaagvapurabhir vidadam namaste. That one stays connected with Krishna, wholeheartedly connected with Krishna. So, it’s taking shelter of Krishna that is most important.
Now, that means connecting with Krishna is what is vital. Now, with what consciousness one does it? One can say this is my own karma, but it has been minimized by Krishna. So, what is Krishna’s mercy? Krishna’s mercy is that he has minimized the karma for us.
I could also see that the, now sometimes Prabhupada also says that for the pure devotees, they have no karma. It is simply for our instruction that the pure, that the pure devotees go through some sufferings. So, we could say that, and Prabhupada gives the example of sometimes the mother-in-law teaches the daughter-in-law by teaching the daughter.
The daughter has not made any mistake, but the mother-in-law tells her, don’t do like this, do like this. So, that means, it is that here the suffering has got nothing to do with karma. It is simply Krishna’s arrangement.
It’s Krishna’s mercy. But Prabhupada talks about this primarily for, he says this is for exalted devotees, their suffering is for their glorification. For us sadhakas, it is for our purification.
For them, it is for their glorification means, although they went through so much sufferings, but still they stayed so faithful to the Lord. How glorious is their devotion. Now, for us when suffering comes, it is, now what do we mean by purification, if it is for our purification? Purification can mean just the exhaustion of our past karma, the past karmic reactions, they also cause some impurities.
But ultimately, the most damaging impurity is our own misdirection of our heart from Krishna. So, if the suffering makes us take shelter of Krishna, the suffering makes me realize nothing else is going to help me, only Krishna is going to help me, then that itself is purification. So, again when I say impurity, impurity is what the last anger, greed kind of things in my heart and what do they do? They take my consciousness away from Krishna.
But if my consciousness goes towards Krishna, then I am free from that suffering. I am free from that misdirection, which is the cause of suffering. So, basically, when the suffering comes, it inspires us to take shelter of Krishna.
That is the vital thing. And yes, seeing the suffering as Krishna’s mercy. Now, it is, whether we see the suffering as Krishna’s mercy or we see Krishna’s mercy even in the suffering, not the suffering itself.
Like I, I don’t know where did I speak yesterday, I was giving the gratitude seminar in Soho, it says even if we can’t be grateful for all situations, we can be grateful in all situations. We can’t be grateful for all situations. Now, if I lose my job, if I get a terrible health crisis, if somebody tells me, you know, be grateful for this, it will be almost impossible.
How can I be grateful for this? So, I can say, okay, this is a terrible thing, but there are so many other things right in my life. I’m grateful for them. And even among the many things that are right in my life, there are these things, which are especially helping me to deal with this problem.
And for that, I’m grateful. So, I would say that it’s, if some devotees may say, even that in that problem itself, oh, I’m grateful. I’m grateful for this problem.
That is like, we have Radhaatma Aaj Kaur’s journey home book, St. Francis, you know, he says, what is bliss? He says, if you are fasting and you go to somebody’s house and you ask for something and that person reviles you, chastises you, condemns you, then taking that suffering for the sake of your Lord, that is bliss. So, that is one way of looking at it. So, when we feel that this is what, this is how, by taking up the suffering for the sake of our Lord, I’m actually, I’m getting an opportunity to serve Him.
I’m fortunate to express my devotion for Him. So, then that, if that is the consciousness, that is wonderful. The first time I went abroad, I had gone to Australia before I came to the West.
So, at that time, somehow when I landed at the airport, because the time zone had changed, the whole experience was the first time for me. So, I just got out of the airport and somehow the plane had come almost one and a half hours before. And then I was just waiting there.
And I didn’t have any Australian currency. And there at the phone booth, they said, you cannot, they said that you can’t contact. And then they had a policy by which the wheelchair assistant dropped me up to a particular point and they said, you know, we drop you here, your escort should come here.
Now, I had my luggage and I couldn’t move from there. So, I didn’t know what to do. So, I was just, it was the first time abroad, I was quite overwhelmed.
But then, suddenly it struck me, you know, here, I know there are devotees, they will find me. They may just be, they may be a little late, they will come, they’ll find me. But then at that time, I thought, when Prabhupada came to America, he just had no one.
There’s no one waiting, especially when, say, he landed at Boston, but he said, I didn’t know whether to turn left or right. Especially when David attacked him and at 22nd Avenue, he was just homeless, didn’t know what to do. So, that time it struck me that, you know, Prabhupada did so much, you know, for me just wait for some time till somebody finds me, it’s no big deal.
So, although it was bewildering, it was overwhelming, but just thinking that way, this is a privilege. I can do something in the selfless love of Prabhupada. So, I would say that we have to see what is favorable for us.
So, if we can see it that way, that I’m taking up this suffering in the service of the Lord, and this is just a way in which I express my devotion to Krishna. And it’s a privilege that I have the opportunity to express my devotion like this. So, if that feeling that I have been chosen then that rather than making us proud or making us feel miserable, it makes us feel treasured, not in an arrogant sense, but you could say treasured, then that is favorable.
So, I was talking with one very senior sannyasi, he was being very fiercely criticized. So, he was telling me that he has done nothing wrong, but so much criticism. So, he was saying that fame, he says, criticism is the price you have to pay for fame.
In this world, nothing comes one side, happiness and distress. So, fame is glorification, but criticism will come with it, the world is a place of dualities. So, he said that actually to glorify Krishna, to spread the fame of Krishna, sometimes we also have to accept fame.
But when we accept fame, we will also get criticism. So, when you see that this actually is a price I am paying for glorifying Krishna. So, then rather than blaming, why are these people criticizing me? Yes, you can try to address them at that level, try to address their misconceptions, but seeing beyond the specifics, if that vision can help us to become more devotionally minded, more inspired to Sir Krishna, then that is wonderful.