The movie "Slum Dog Millionaire" was recommended to me for watching. Summing up all the things that happened to those kids, even though the conclusion was material happiness, not spiritual, the words spoken towards the end that "God is good" were very fitting.
In my own life I can look back and see that places I've been, things I've done, events that occurred, people I've met, and even the seemingly most insignificant comments at the time, were all meant for a reason to bring me to the point I am now. They have shaped me. What to speak of the effect i may have had on others along the way. But I also see there is a higher force at work. It's not that we move independently. There is Supersoul as the director, maintainer, witness and source of knowledge, remembrance and forgetfulness. He knows the destiny of each soul, He is the permitter, allowing the fruits as we deserve, but for His devotee He takes special care because He knows one's heart as well. As soon as a soul desires to know the Absolute Truth, He tirelessly takes special care to bring one to the point of exclusive devotion to His lotus feet.
In Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Bhismadeva instructs King Yudhistira and all those who hear him today that the will of the Lord is inconceivable. In the chapter that follows, Sri Narada repeats to Yudhistira the same teaching. Meanwhile, in the same Bhagavatam, there is the story of how King Pariksit, while still in the womb of his mother, was saved by the Lord from the fiery brahmastra arrow aimed at him. Thus, it is inconceivable that this great and godly king- who was personally protected by the Lord who also arranged for him to be made the emperor of the world- was later on cursed by a brahmana's son to die within seven days because of a simple mistake. Today, however, because of this divine arrangement of the Lord, we can look back at this event recorded by Vyasadeva and see its fruit- the speaking of the Srimad Bhagavatam to King Pariksit through Sukadeva Gosvami, a conversation full of transcendental wisdom that has been passed down since that time for the benefit of all living beings.
Therefore, as Prabhupada wrote in SB 1.18.28p., we can see that "The merciful Lord sometimes creates such awkward positions for his pure devotees in order to drag them towards Himself from the mire of material existence. But outwardly the situations appear to be frustrating to the devotees. The devotees of the Lord are always under the protection of the Lord, and in any condition, frustration or success, the Lord is the supreme guide for the devotees. The pure devotees, therefore, accept all conditions of frustration as blessings from the Lord."
"According to Srila Visvanätha Cakravarti, the plan was made by the will of the Lord, and by the will of the Lord...that for his so-called misdeed the King could be cursed by an inexperienced brähmana boy infected by the influence of Kali, and thus the King would leave his hearth and home for good. His connections with Srila Sukadeva Gosvämi would enable the presentation of the great Srimad-Bhägavatam, which is considered to be the book incarnation of the Lord."- SB 1.18.32
In this regard, I've learned that even with proper know how and full facility to do a service, things don't always go the way we plan; there is no guarantee of utilizing it successfully. For one thing, there are the threefold miseries of existence we must contend with everyday, what to speak of this entire material world being a place of danger at every step; it is rigged to be full of opposition. In only a moment, all our hopes and dreams for happiness can be dashed to pieces. Karma comes into play. We may not deserve what we desire. And in Kali yuga especially, there are so many other problems that the Srimad Bhagavatam describes as symptoms of this age- quarreling of family members, feeling separation of loved ones, the administration of godless leaders and the ill effects of a predominately godless society. Then there's my own poor training and bad habits from my past that I must struggle with. So, although we may wish to peacefully execute our prescribed duties, so many problems may arise.
Yet, Pariksit's example shows that there is a reason for all this trouble. The Lord may have other plans for His devotee, plans to bring one closer to Him in initially not- so- pleasant ways or to shake up any leaning toward spiritual complacency. An example of the latter was King Nrga. He was meticulously careful to execute all His duties properly. Still, for one little mistake, that was not really his fault, he ended up in a hellish condition of life. Yet, this was Krishna's mercy towards him, because the king in his distress spent all his time thinking of the Lord and became purified.
Krishna is eternally our greatest well-wisher. He created this whole material world just to bring us to our senses, to bring us back home, back to Godhead. For His devotee, He is personally arranging that everything we hear, see, experience, the people we have to deal with, the places we must go... is teaching us and pushing us toward full surrender to Him. He has a master plan for all of us, similar to the incredible plan He executed when He personally appeared here to deliver the earth.
And Krsna is infallible. That means we can always depend on Him for help and protection, something that cannot be gotten from anything or anyone else in the material world in the ultimate sense. In His Gita He tells us, "Do not worry about your karma. Just surrender unto Me. I will protect you." Fate is mighty, but Krishna is Almighty. Thus, I put all my faith in Him for executing the duties given me and just try to do my best, cooperating with Krishna to do the rest.
In closing, here is a little story that illustrates further these points:
KRISHNA'S CAKE (adapted, original author unknown)
A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong- she's failing algebra, her best friend is moving away and she is sad over the recent death of her grandmother.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely, Mom."
Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers.
"Yuck" says her daughter.
"How about a couple scoops of plain flour?"
"No thanks, Mom!"
"Would you like some salt then? Or maybe baking soda?"
"Mom, those are all yucky!"
To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!
“Krsna works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But Krsna knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good. We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful.”
In my own life I can look back and see that places I've been, things I've done, events that occurred, people I've met, and even the seemingly most insignificant comments at the time, were all meant for a reason to bring me to the point I am now. They have shaped me. What to speak of the effect i may have had on others along the way. But I also see there is a higher force at work. It's not that we move independently. There is Supersoul as the director, maintainer, witness and source of knowledge, remembrance and forgetfulness. He knows the destiny of each soul, He is the permitter, allowing the fruits as we deserve, but for His devotee He takes special care because He knows one's heart as well. As soon as a soul desires to know the Absolute Truth, He tirelessly takes special care to bring one to the point of exclusive devotion to His lotus feet.
In Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Bhismadeva instructs King Yudhistira and all those who hear him today that the will of the Lord is inconceivable. In the chapter that follows, Sri Narada repeats to Yudhistira the same teaching. Meanwhile, in the same Bhagavatam, there is the story of how King Pariksit, while still in the womb of his mother, was saved by the Lord from the fiery brahmastra arrow aimed at him. Thus, it is inconceivable that this great and godly king- who was personally protected by the Lord who also arranged for him to be made the emperor of the world- was later on cursed by a brahmana's son to die within seven days because of a simple mistake. Today, however, because of this divine arrangement of the Lord, we can look back at this event recorded by Vyasadeva and see its fruit- the speaking of the Srimad Bhagavatam to King Pariksit through Sukadeva Gosvami, a conversation full of transcendental wisdom that has been passed down since that time for the benefit of all living beings.
Therefore, as Prabhupada wrote in SB 1.18.28p., we can see that "The merciful Lord sometimes creates such awkward positions for his pure devotees in order to drag them towards Himself from the mire of material existence. But outwardly the situations appear to be frustrating to the devotees. The devotees of the Lord are always under the protection of the Lord, and in any condition, frustration or success, the Lord is the supreme guide for the devotees. The pure devotees, therefore, accept all conditions of frustration as blessings from the Lord.""According to Srila Visvanätha Cakravarti, the plan was made by the will of the Lord, and by the will of the Lord...that for his so-called misdeed the King could be cursed by an inexperienced brähmana boy infected by the influence of Kali, and thus the King would leave his hearth and home for good. His connections with Srila Sukadeva Gosvämi would enable the presentation of the great Srimad-Bhägavatam, which is considered to be the book incarnation of the Lord."- SB 1.18.32
In this regard, I've learned that even with proper know how and full facility to do a service, things don't always go the way we plan; there is no guarantee of utilizing it successfully. For one thing, there are the threefold miseries of existence we must contend with everyday, what to speak of this entire material world being a place of danger at every step; it is rigged to be full of opposition. In only a moment, all our hopes and dreams for happiness can be dashed to pieces. Karma comes into play. We may not deserve what we desire. And in Kali yuga especially, there are so many other problems that the Srimad Bhagavatam describes as symptoms of this age- quarreling of family members, feeling separation of loved ones, the administration of godless leaders and the ill effects of a predominately godless society. Then there's my own poor training and bad habits from my past that I must struggle with. So, although we may wish to peacefully execute our prescribed duties, so many problems may arise.
Yet, Pariksit's example shows that there is a reason for all this trouble. The Lord may have other plans for His devotee, plans to bring one closer to Him in initially not- so- pleasant ways or to shake up any leaning toward spiritual complacency. An example of the latter was King Nrga. He was meticulously careful to execute all His duties properly. Still, for one little mistake, that was not really his fault, he ended up in a hellish condition of life. Yet, this was Krishna's mercy towards him, because the king in his distress spent all his time thinking of the Lord and became purified.
Krishna is eternally our greatest well-wisher. He created this whole material world just to bring us to our senses, to bring us back home, back to Godhead. For His devotee, He is personally arranging that everything we hear, see, experience, the people we have to deal with, the places we must go... is teaching us and pushing us toward full surrender to Him. He has a master plan for all of us, similar to the incredible plan He executed when He personally appeared here to deliver the earth.
And Krsna is infallible. That means we can always depend on Him for help and protection, something that cannot be gotten from anything or anyone else in the material world in the ultimate sense. In His Gita He tells us, "Do not worry about your karma. Just surrender unto Me. I will protect you." Fate is mighty, but Krishna is Almighty. Thus, I put all my faith in Him for executing the duties given me and just try to do my best, cooperating with Krishna to do the rest.
In closing, here is a little story that illustrates further these points:
KRISHNA'S CAKE (adapted, original author unknown)
A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong- she's failing algebra, her best friend is moving away and she is sad over the recent death of her grandmother.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely, Mom."
Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers.
"Yuck" says her daughter.
"How about a couple scoops of plain flour?"
"No thanks, Mom!"
"Would you like some salt then? Or maybe baking soda?"
"Mom, those are all yucky!"
To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!
“Krsna works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But Krsna knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good. We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful.”