Sometimes our actions don’t produce results but do those results manifest eventually?

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When I said that Krishna sees the efforts, and the results may or may not come, Krishna doesn’t judge by the results. But do the results come eventually? This is not all results will manifest at the material level.
So if we equate results with material results, then it may not work out. Mishra Prabhupada, he achieved unparalleled things. 108 temples, went around the world 14 times, he did such unparalleled teaching in the world history.
But even then his desire was to translate the full Bhagavatam. That didn’t happen. It’s not necessary, but just because a desire is pure in spiritual, still that desire will necessarily materialize in this world.
So we have to understand that there is a complex interplay between karma, bhakti, and mercy. That means that some devotees, I’ll just analyze from the karmic point of view, and then I’ll analyze from the bhakti point of view. Some devotees by their past karma, they are just charismatic people.
The way they talk, the way they conduct themselves, they attract others. And when they become spiritual leaders, they may attract thousands of people. Now others, some other devotees, they may not be so charismatic.
They themselves may be very serious devotees. Even when they become spiritual leaders, they may not be crowd pullers who attract many people. I’ll take a simpler example.
Some devotees may be very good singers. Some devotees may not be at all good singers. Some devotees may be very good speakers.
Some devotees may not be very good speakers. Radha, Govinda, Bhagwan, Nakeesh. So it is not necessary that the material capabilities of a devotee will change.
They can change. They can change, but it is not necessary. We have it on one side, mukham karoti vachalam pangam langhayate.
We have that by Krishna’s mercy, even a dumb person can speak or a great person can walk. But then we also have the other side where there is a story of a South Indian brahmana who was reading the Bhagavad Gita and couldn’t even pronounce Sanskrit verses. Now at that time, 500 years ago, Sanskrit was the basic language for brahmanas.
And if a brahmana could not pronounce Sanskrit, you say, what is a brahmana doing? So now the point was, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appreciated his bhakti. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appreciated his faith in his spiritual master’s instructions. But there is no description that after that, he suddenly became a wonderful Sanskrit reciter.
That means this can happen. Miraculously, a devotee can be transformed and a devotee can get extraordinary abilities also. But that is not necessary.
And the absence of such extraordinary abilities does not necessarily mean a deficiency, a devotion of the devotee. That devotee may be very devoted and still, Krishna may want some devotees to serve in particular ways. Just like we have in our tradition, there are bhajna nandis and there are goshta nandis.
Some devotees just like to do bhajans. They like to do solitary meditation. They are great devotees, but they will never have many disciples because they just don’t know about it.
They may not travel around on premature, they may not have many followers. So that may not happen in their life. Of course, in that case, it is simply their transcendental rasa with Krishna.
But the point I am making is similar, that the material attributes of a devotee may or may not change. We don’t know that. So therefore, some devotees may become very successful at the external level in their services.
And some devotees may not become so successful at the external level. The success at the external level also requires some external abilities. Some devotees may be very sincere, but say they do not have managerial abilities.
They may never become great managers. Some devotees may have great devotion, great scholarship, but they may not have great speaking abilities. They may never become great orators.
So when we talk about results, results at the material level do not necessarily reflect one’s bhakti. And sometimes some results may come, sometimes some results may not come. So what a devotee focuses on is one’s endeavor wholeheartedly.
Now of course, when this happens, some devotees’ results come, some devotees’ results don’t come. We need to understand that actually Krishna does what it takes for that devotee’s spiritual growth. So sometimes giving the results is what encourages the devotee and helps the devotee to go on.
Sometimes not giving the results may be what is necessary for the devotee to go inwards and take shelter of Krishna more. So we should know that whatever happens in the devotee’s life is ultimately for the best. It is ultimately for the growth of the devotee.
So from our perspective, we keep endeavoring. Of course, we use our intelligence to endeavor. So Prabhupada was endeavoring with determination, but he was also trying different things.
First try a magazine, then try a book, then try organization, then try helping another organization, then try going abroad. Prabhupada tried. It is not that he is stuck to one thing all the time.
So if results are not coming in one field, we use our intelligence and try something else. So that means that we have to be fixed in our purpose and flexible in our process. My goal is to serve Krishna no matter what happens.
I am fixed in my purpose. But how exactly I will serve Krishna? That may change. I may start with one particular service, but then afterwards I find I am not so good at this service.
Some things are not working out. I may try something else. We may explore and over a period of time we realize this is the service I wish to do.
This is what I am good at. This is what I will do. Just because we don’t get the results in the service doesn’t mean that Krishna is not accepting our intention to serve.
Krishna is accepting our intention to serve and we are growing towards it. So we, at one level, accept that whether the results come or not, I am growing in my relationship with Krishna. At another level, we want results in this world also.
So we are flexible. We keep trying different things so that we can make a tangible contribution in this world. And usually Krishna does give results.
Not necessarily all the results, not necessarily the results in the form that we expect. But Krishna does give wonderful results. The problem happens when we we limit Krishna with our expectations.
Normally we think that Krishna doesn’t fulfill my expectations. You know, I thought I will do this. It didn’t work out.
But actually sometimes we limit Krishna with our expectations. That means what? We expect Krishna’s result to come in a particular way. And Krishna may reward us in some other way.
We are walking through a particular door and that door bangs shut. And we spend all this time glaring at that door. We spend all our time and energy.
We don’t notice that some other door has opened. So if we are fixed in our purpose but flexible in our process, process means not Chandi Hari Krishna, process means how we serve. So one plan may not work.
But overall, the intention to serve Krishna will work. Krishna will open some door for us. If we are a devotee, we will get the results.
But a devotee has to be open to redefinition of what results, what it means to get results. In what form the results may come, Krishna can very dramatically alter that. So we need to be open to that.
Did I answer your question? Do we have time? Okay, last question.