If Krishna’s love is unconditional, why didn’t he help Draupadi till she raised both her hands in surrender?
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This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors. Question, if Krishna’s love is unconditional, then why did Krishna not come to help Draupadi till he surrendered to her, till she surrendered to him by raising both her hands? Answer, for teaching certain principles, some pastimes are analyzed in particular ways. So, for exemplifying surrender in the form of total dependence on Krishna, sometimes talk about how Draupadi raised both her hands in helplessness and thus she surrendered to Krishna. Now, this does not imply that Draupadi was unsurrendered till that point. So, Draupadi was always a great devotee of Krishna and she was always devoted to him, always, in a sense, surrendered to him. Even when she was living as a queen, protected by her husbands, she was surrendered to him, she surrendered to Krishna. Even when she was reasoning with the assembly, trying to make sense, trying to avoid the great dharmic catastrophe of them watching on mutely as she was disrobed, throughout all, through it all, she was surrendered. So, we can express our surrender to Krishna through our dependence on Krishna as well as through our diligence for Krishna. So, sometimes one particular mode of surrender is highlighted and a particular devotee is used as an example for highlighting that particular mode of surrender. So, Draupadi exemplifies surrender to Krishna through dependence on Krishna. Arjuna, on the other hand, here in the Gita, also surrenders to Krishna. But he exemplifies surrender through diligence for Krishna. That’s why he picks up his bow in readiness to fight. So, in this particular case of Draupadi, the stress is not that Krishna didn’t love her before. It’s not that Krishna’s love was unconditional. It is Krishna who, from within her heart, was giving her the intelligence by which she was trying to make arguments, by which to make the assembly cease and reason. But that particular manifestation of Krishna, that particular way in which Krishna was reciprocating, that was not, highlighting that is not the purpose of that pastime. So, we should not think that Krishna reciprocated with Draupadi only when she raised both her hands and called out. Even the intelligence to first resist the disrobing through arguments and then the intelligence to not panic when everything was going wrong and to surrender to Krishna by raising both hands, all this intelligence is also given by Krishna. But in that particular pastime, the particular reciprocation which it’s meant to highlight is of how we need to wholeheartedly call out to Krishna. So, it is said that when we are working, work as if everything depends on you. And when we are praying, should pray as if everything depends on Krishna. So, there are times when we have to work and we have to be wholehearted in our work for Krishna. But there are times when we have to pray, wholeheartedly depend on Krishna. This is that kind of time in which Draupadi found herself. So, in her situation, her devotion was always there, but she demonstrates total dependence on Krishna and when she exhibits the total dependence, Krishna appears personally. But her relationship and reciprocation with Krishna are going on throughout.