Gauranga Prabhu - Material Body = Inevitable Miseries

H.G. Gauranga prabhu, ISKCON Chowpatty Temple Vice-President

'We never promise in Krishna Consciousness that miseries will disappear. In Bollywood films, you'll probably be aware of the common scene, where the close relative of the hero dies, and he goes in the temple, rings the bell 'ding' and accuses God 'Kyun kiya tune ye Bhagvan?!' (Why did you do this God?). And then whenever the hero beats up the villains, suddenly all the credit goes to him and not God! Similarly, even after surrendering to Krishna, Arjuna had to face so many miseries, his five sons were mercilessly slaughtered by Ashvattama. He could have accused Krishna "Ek ghanta lecture diya! "Me yeh hoo, Me vo hoo, behold My universal form", Aur mere bete ko maar diya! (You gave me an hour-long lecture, said "I am this, I am that, behold my universal form" - and then you killed my sons!)."

He could have questioned "Why did I surrender to You?" But this is the reality. Becoming a devotee of God doesn't remove the external miseries, because as long as we are in material body, there will be miseries. What it does teach us is to tolerate such miseries and focus on the higher goal - our future eternal life after the death of this body.'

Paraphrased from a lecture entitled 'Mission Impossible'.
Mehul prabhu's House Program, Forest Gate, London, 16th February 2006.
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