How can we experience Krishna’s love at our stage?

How Can We Understand That the Lord Loves Us?

The Bhagavad-gita broadly outlines a progressive journey of realizing Krishna’s love. One such approach can be understood through three stages.

1. Recognizing Krishna’s Role in Meeting Our Needs (Jnana-chakshu – Gita 15.12–15)

In these verses, Krishna invites us to see through the eye of knowledge (jnana-chakshu). He explains how He provides essential things we need to survive—like sunlight, moonlight, the ability to eat, digest, and remember. These aren’t things we arrange for ourselves; they are made possible by Krishna’s benevolence.

To perceive Krishna’s love, we can start by appreciating His role in fulfilling our needs, not just our desires. Often, we confuse the two—yet there is a big difference. Needs are things we require for survival and functioning; desires are things we wish for. Both are valuable to us, but desires often overshadow needs in our minds.

We tend to overlook our needs unless they’re threatened. For example, we might complain that our meal lacks dessert, forgetting that many people go hungry every day. We might desire tasty food, but even getting nutritious food regularly is a blessing—and Krishna plays a vital role in that.

As long as we measure Krishna’s love solely based on whether our desires are fulfilled, our perception will remain unstable. Desires are often linked with rajas and tamas, the lower modes. But to value our needs and be grateful for their fulfillment indicates a rise to sattva. That’s where spiritual vision begins.

Krishna is not asking us to immediately reject all material things or leap into renunciation. Rather, He offers a progressive approach—start by recognizing His role in our basic needs. Even when we work hard to earn our living, if nature doesn’t cooperate—if there’s famine or disease—our efforts won’t bear fruit. So Krishna’s arrangement is fundamental.

2. Appreciating the Taste We Get in Devotional Service

In bhakti, we all have different inclinations. Some practices may feel like duty—such as chanting or studying scripture daily. On some days, we may relish them; on others, they feel like a burden. Yet, there are aspects of bhakti that we naturally find joy in—maybe it’s dressing the deities, cooking for Krishna, singing kirtan, or listening to the Bhagavatam.

These moments of genuine taste are not accidental. They are Krishna’s personal way of encouraging us—His love expressing itself in the form of spiritual rasa. If we become conscious and grateful for these moments, we begin to see Krishna’s love more vividly.

Often, we gauge Krishna’s love by asking two questions:

• Are my desires being fulfilled?
• Are my problems being removed?

However, the reality of the world is that all our desires will never be fulfilled, and all our problems will never be removed. That’s the nature of the material realm. So if we tie our perception of Krishna’s love only to these criteria, we’ll often feel let down.

Instead, look for Krishna’s love in the strength He gives us to endure difficulties, in the shelter we find in devotional activities, and in the taste He provides in service. These are more stable indicators of His love.

3. Expanding Our Vision to See Krishna’s Love Everywhere

As we move forward spiritually, our vision begins to widen. From appreciating material provisions (sattva), we start valuing devotional experiences (shuddha-sattva). And as we receive taste (rasa) in one area of bhakti, we begin to trust that Krishna’s love may be waiting in other areas too.

For example, if we experience joy in kirtan, we may think—perhaps I can feel Krishna’s presence in japa as well. Maybe in seva. Maybe in scriptural study. Slowly, we begin to explore and expand, guided by that taste.

Whenever we experience a glimpse of Krishna’s love, we should cherish it. That glimpse can serve as a spark to seek Him in other areas of our life. Bit by bit, we expand the circle of our relationship with Krishna.

Eventually, as described in Bhagavad-gita 6.30, one comes to a level where one sees Krishna everywhere and never loses Him—and is never lost to Him. That is a high stage, but we can begin right now, right where we are, and steadily progress.

In summary:

• Start by seeing Krishna’s love in the fulfillment of your basic needs.
• Then, appreciate the joy or taste you experience in some devotional activities.
• Finally, let those glimpses of Krishna’s love inspire you to seek Him more—and in more places in your life.

Over time, what begins as a faint perception will become a lived realization: Yes, Krishna loves me. And He always has.