​Should we see that our sufferings are arranged by Krishna?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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thank you so Prabhupada says that even the miseries of a devotee are reciprocation of rasa with the lord and if we see that our problems are being that Krishna has taken charge of our karma and thereby we can actually process go through the whole suffering in a more devotional way and move on towards Krishna so to say that Krishna is not the cause of our suffering is that right actually I would say that the mind is very tricky and basically by living in this world we have to learn to out trick the tricky mind so what way of thinking will work best will vary at different times that means first just give another example from a different context and how we need to we need to find out some way to keep moving towards Krishna by out tricking the mind so say if His Holiness Bhaktivedanta Maharaj has asked this question once that if we are preaching somewhere and people are not very enthusiastic so we also don’t feel enthusiastic to speak so what should we do at that time so Maharaj said that you should think that this preaching is your practice for the future preaching where people are going to be enthusiastic so now of course we could say you know we are not preaching for the people we should be preaching simply for Krishna’s pleasure Prabhupada is hearing, Krishna is hearing but sometimes the mind doesn’t accept that so we have to find some way to out trick the mind by which we can go on in our service to Krishna so having said that when we face misery now the mind can actually sometimes make us antagonistic to Krishna so if I think Krishna is causing this misery in the sense that Krishna has taken charge of my karma and Krishna is causing this misery then there is at one level I can say yes Krishna is there and Krishna is in charge the karma is not coming by chance and that can make me take shelter of Krishna more but it can also work out sometimes that ok Krishna knows I am going through so much misery why is Krishna not doing anything to minimize it why is Krishna not doing anything to practically help me and when that question comes it can be very difficult to take shelter of Krishna so I would say it is so whatever understanding helps us to take shelter of Krishna that is the understanding that we have to take so if at one level at a transcendental level we could say that in India often people put a Gita saar in various shops so one of the statements is jo hua wo achcha hua jo ho raha hai wo achcha ho raha hai jo hone wala hai wo bhi achcha hi hoga what happened that was good what is happening that is good what will happen that is also good now I have read the Bhagavad Gita dozens of times I have never found any verse like this which says anything like this but the point is that the Gita’s teaching is not so much analyzing the nature of what happens the Gita’s focus is on analyzing how we should respond so if we look at the Mahabharata of which the Gita is a part say when Draupadi is disrobed and afterwards she goes through terrible mortification and then when they are going to the forest they have gone to the forest at that time Krishna comes to meet her and Krishna doesn’t tell her whatever happened is for good this was terrible if I had known this was happening I would have come and stopped the gambling match from taking place but he reassures her saying that you are a chaste lady everything will work out right he consoles her so somebody is Krishna doesn’t take the attitude that everything that happens happens for good what happened was bad but rather than saying that everything that happens is good it is more philosophically appropriate to say that everything that happens is for good it is not itself good in this world bad things can happen but it can be for a good purpose if we choose a good response say somebody’s child or spouse or loved one suddenly dies it is practically impossible for them to think at that time it is good now it is at an objective level we could say to suddenly lose a loved one is bad but good can come from it if we respond properly to it so now having said this from the point of view of the mind now we have to find out which is the way in which we can take shelter of Krishna so it is like this suffering is coming by my own karma and Krishna is there to give me shelter so if this is the attitude that helps us to take shelter of Krishna that is fine but if now this is from the point of view of our mind’s perspective from the perspective of what is the reality the reality is two fold one is that sufferings come by our own past karma but for a devotee Krishna takes charge of the karma as you said and Krishna arranges for the sufferings to come in a way that can draw the devotee towards Krishna so the sufferings will come for a devotee but along with the sufferings will come some realizations will come some insights will come some solace from maybe other devotees from other sources which will which will make sure that the suffering takes the devotee towards Krishna so philosophically it is true that whatever suffering is coming it is coming by our karma which is under Krishna’s control but usually speaking when it comes about philosophy it is usually we don’t say ever at least I have not seen anywhere but what is the answer to the problem of evil the problem of evil why do bad things happen to good people you know nobody ever says that God is the cause of evil it is because material nature is the cause God is a sanctioner ultimately so we don’t say that God is the cause of evil it is if you look at the whole Bhishma’s verses Bhishma first starts saying that how how unfortunate that for you who are so virtuous such a terrible thing happened and then he goes on and analyzes various causes and finally he says his plan is inconceivable you just follow his plan so he is not saying so much that whatever has happened is by his plan but he is not saying that he is the cause of everything so I would say from the philosophical perspective there is a separation between material nature and Krishna and sufferings are generally the way we describe in our philosophy sufferings are caused by material nature and Krishna is beyond material nature and Krishna invites us to go beyond material nature now for a devotee these two become combined because devotee is directly under the control of Krishna so we could say that the sufferings are arranged by Krishna but when we say arranged by Krishna there has to be that caution that it is not that Krishna is somehow for some reason manufacturing some karmic reaction for a devotee to suffer it is the devotee themselves we have also done something wrong but Krishna has arranged that in a context by which we can move closer to him so I would summarize this in two parts it’s a complex thing first is that ultimately we have to find out that way of looking at suffering which helps us to move closer towards Krishna so if we can see that Krishna is sending the suffering in my life to reform me and that inspires us to become more devoted to Krishna that is fine just like if Prabhupada gives the example that that if a mother beats the child if the child understands the mother’s love and says okay mother wants my reformation and that’s why I am being disciplined like this then that is anukun but sometimes this example is fine but in the real world when suffering comes it is very difficult to see what could be good about this suffering this is creating so much problems I can’t see anything good in this so then to just to think that okay Krishna is causing this and how is it good we will realize it eventually but at that time it is extremely difficult to think about how this can be for my good so then at that time if we cannot see the benevolent hand of Krishna in that if we can’t see the benevolence of Krishna in the suffering we can at least see the benevolence of Krishna in his providing us a buffer from the suffering that means the suffering has come because of my past karma but if I did not have bhakti if I did not have the opportunity to remember Krishna I would have suffered much much more would have suffered much much more so if we see Krishna as the cause of suffering sometimes because the suffering is too much it will make us make it difficult for us to take shelter of Krishna but without going into the cause of suffering I don’t know why this suffering is coming I don’t even know how it is for my good but what I do know is that in this suffering if I don’t take shelter of Krishna I will suffer much much more than what I would otherwise so at that time just thinking that Krishna is the shelter from this suffering and not going too much to the cause that may be the best way at that time when you can take shelter of Krishna so that’s my understanding if you would like to correct anything please let me know yeah but then you are probably you are fortunate that somehow when the sufferings came that did not make you averse to Krishna it has happened to some devotees also when the sufferings come that makes them averse to Krishna one other point