How can we avoid pride during times of material success and remain thankful to Krishna?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Question from Krishnam Raju Prabhu.
How can we remember Krishna amidst times of success? When there are failures, we can try to remember Krishna. But in times of success, often we feel it is because of what I have done that the success has come. So, we tend to get carried away.
How can we remember Krishna even in good times? Answer, I have written a Gita Daily article titled, Our faith is tested by bad times and more so by good times. Because in bad times, if we are having some pious inclination, then we naturally, if we take shelter of Krishna, Krishna help me. Because that’s the time we feel the need for Krishna.
The nature of the world gets exposed to us. The reality of scripture gets revealed to us. But in good times, often we start feeling, I don’t really need Krishna.
This world is not such a bad place and I am myself doing quite well. So, that is the time when our faith is tested greater. And if we see that as a test of faith, then we’ll be prepared in advance.
Now, if we don’t see it as a test of faith, then we will get seduced and then we will get some little pleasure and then eventually those good times, they’re not going to last also. That success which we are going to get, the infatuation that we get from success, then what is going to happen by that is, it will deviate us from Krishna, our path towards Krishna. When we hog the limelight and just wallow in the sense of pride because of the success, then we deprive ourselves of the remembrance of Krishna during that period.
That contamination of pride increases and that distracts us further from Krishna as per, from moving towards Krishna. So, therefore, if we remember in advance that even times of success are tests of our faith, then we will be able to be prepared in that time. Now, it’s not wrong for us to recognize if we have done something good and to, we don’t have to proclaim it to others, but we have to look at whatever good we have done and we can take satisfaction in a job well done.
So, if we have done, if worked hard and done some service well and the result has come out wonderfully, it’s not wrong to feel satisfied that we did something well. That sense of fulfillment is great if we have offered, it is greatly satisfying to the heart when we have been able to offer ourselves nicely to Krishna. But that should not be the only feeling that we have.
As devotees, our goal is to be Krishna conscious. So, there are three levels at this. First is that even when we are able to do something well, we can remember that even after I had done something well, still it would not have, the result would not have come out if so many other things had not worked out.
You know, even if say, I have cracked an exam and I have got very good marks, I have done a very difficult project and got a big bonus in my, a big bonus or promotion in my job or even the service, you know, I have done phenomenal book distribution, whatever. Actually, there are so many other factors which are required to be worked out. And how did they work out? We have to understand that is the factor behind all those factors was the Krishna factor.
So, by seeing that, even from our objectives and so many things could have gone wrong, which would have made our success impossible, even if we had done everything right. So, that makes us remember that actually, yes, Krishna is there, Krishna is important. So, the acknowledgement of all the other factors that could have gone right, that went right, that can help us to remember Krishna.
Second is that even when we talk about our abilities and our doing things right, there are times when we, for no seeming reason, we just do things wrong. You know, in cricket, somebody might be a champion batsman and that batsman will also have to acknowledge that there are so many other things. If I am in a blazing form, but suppose at that time rains come, you know, I cannot do anything at that time.
And even if I am known to be a famous batsman, there are times when I will just, I just play pathetically. I say that I am out of form. So, that makes me think really, you know, I don’t want to be out of form, but still I go out of form.
What happens? That my batting ability is not actually my batting ability. So, our abilities, Krishna says that all our abilities come from Him only. So, it is Krishna who is enabling us to do those things because it is He who has given us abilities.
We are souls and the soul has no connection with body or anything related with the body. And whatever we have in the body, that is ultimately coming from Krishna and it is His grace that He is enabling us to do things. So, we may say, no, it’s because of my karma that I have got these good abilities.
That may be so, but still it is Krishna who is enabling us to control our mind and use our talents in such a way that we can do something worthwhile, something wonderful also. So, in this way, by contemplating that three things, good times are also a test of our faith, then they can be an opportunity when we go closer to Krishna. How we will go closer to Krishna? Prabhupada explains in the purport of Sukheshu-Vigatas-Pruha in the second chapter, 2.55. He says that a devotee, when good things come in the devotee’s life, a devotee feels, although I don’t deserve it, Krishna has given this to me so that I can do better service to Him.
So, let me use this and do more service, better service. So, rather than becoming self-centered, we can become more Krishna-centered. Okay, now I have better financial security.
Now, I have better, say, whatever it may be that has happened because of the good thing. Now, I have that better. Now, I’ll be able to serve Krishna better.
I have more respectability in society, more this, more that. Let me use this to serve Krishna better. So, devotee sees this as Krishna having granted us the facility so that we can serve Him better.
So, that way we can, instead of going away from Krishna, use that material success to go towards Krishna. So, that’s how we can pass the test. So, by seeing material success as a test, by seeing the various factors which were beyond our control, which went right, we can see the Krishna factor.
And by remembering that our abilities are also not our abilities and they are not always in our control. They come from Krishna and it is only by His grace that we are able to control them. In all these ways, we can contemplate the remembrance of Krishna.
We can think about how it is not we alone who are responsible for the success. Krishna played a significant role, decisive role in fact. And that’s why let me remember Krishna and let me use this success