If karma daiva and kala lead to phala what is Krishna’s role?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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So, in the equation of Karma, Daiva and Kaal lead to Fala, what is the role of Krishna? Krishna is there everywhere. It’s like, Krishna is the person who sets up this whole system of causal connection. And, see, when we say that, say, say, a woman cooks some food very nicely, and if she is a devotee, if they are praised for cooking, it is Krishna’s mercy.
Now, if you look at the list of ingredients, Krishna’s mercy is not one of the ingredients. You know, the ingredients that you put sugar, you put milk, you put rice, whatever. But we understand, Krishna’s mercy is there underlying everything.
It’s not a material ingredient over there. So, like that, when we talk about Karma, Daiva, Kaal, it leads to Fala. This is a material causal chain.
And Krishna can intervene at any level. So, when we say, oh, the food came out very nicely, that is Krishna’s mercy. What does that mean? Could say Krishna gave me the intelligence to put the things properly.
Or Krishna made the arrangement by which all the things that were necessary were available. So, Krishna’s intelligence can come in in any way. So, Krishna’s mercy can come in any way.
Not intelligence. Krishna’s mercy can come in any way. So, with respect to this particular unfolding, we have to understand that our own Karma, we can do it better when we are surrendered to Krishna.
Because, as I said, the practice of Bhakti helps us to control our impulses. That we don’t react impulsively. Rather, we respond intelligently.
Similarly, Daiva is the stockpile of our Karma. But Daiva also, how it comes upon us, that is not determined. So, Krishna is so expert that He can bring good even out of the bad.
Something bad may happen, but Krishna’s plan can bring something good out of it. And so, Daiva is something which is again not… It’s fixed in the sense that, okay, we have done this Karma, we are going to get the reaction. But a lot depends on which reaction happens at what time.
It’s like, you know, in cricket they say that, you know, ultimately all batsmen… Everybody gets some good… You may be out and the umpire gives you not out. And you are not out and the umpire gives you out. So, you may say, luck evens things out.
But, you know, it may not always work out practically like that. You know, if you get out when there is a whole team waiting and a lot of batsmen are there afterwards, it doesn’t matter. But if you get out in the last over when just a few balls are remaining, that may have much more consequence.
So, the point is that actually Krishna, when we become devoted to Him, our own Daiva, our own destiny which comes upon us, Krishna arranges in such a way that it is favorable for our spiritual growth. Also, Krishna can also remove karma. Just like, ultimately the purpose of karma is not punishment.
The purpose of karma is reformation. It’s like in a court, a judge may sentence a particular criminal who is going to be 10 years in jail. But if that criminal behaves well in jail, the sentence may be reduced from 10 years to 5 years.
It may be reduced to 3 years also depending on how the person is conducting himself. The point is not to put this person in jail. The point is to reform the person.
So, like that, if a devotee is practicing bhakti diligently, Krishna can actually remove the karma also, substantially reduce the karma. And so, Krishna helps us in karma in terms of helping us to make right choices. Krishna can adjust the Daiva so that it comes to us in a way that helps us grow or he can minimize it also.
And with respect to Kala, for a devotee, we understand that actually time is also a manifestation of God. So that means, even when a devotee is going through some bad period, so there is a, when we are practicing bhakti, the practice of bhakti, it helps us to see things from the perspective of eternity. From the perspective of eternity, okay, I am going through some trouble right now, but, okay, I don’t have to get so worked up about it.
Suppose, you know, if we are coming by a flight and then our neighbor is a very noisy person. On the flight, the neighbor is a noisy person, it’s irritating. But we understand it’s a two-hour, three-hour flight.
We don’t need to make a big hue and cry about it. So when we see from the long-term perspective, two, three hours, I can manage it. If we can’t change it, we can manage it.
If we can change the seat, that’s fine, but if we can’t, we’ll manage it. So like that, when we are practicing bhakti, we start seeing, okay, I did this work, but I am not getting any result. If we are perceiving from the short-term materialistic perspective, say, you know, I did so much work, why is nothing working out? But from the spiritual perspective, we will see, okay, it didn’t work out.
Ultimately, it will work out. Let me be patient. So in this way, Krishna can work out in karma, daiva and kala for the benefit of the devotee.
Thank you very much.