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This world a miserable place?


mani@srirangam.esd.sgi.com (Mani Varadarajan) wrote:





>Care to explain? If the world is inherently miserable, how

>can we carry out devotional service and experience bliss here?

>Would not the miserable nature of the world get in the way?

>I think you are hard pressed to explain how a gracious God

>could have thrust us into an inherently miserable world.



Hare Krishna!



Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!



This world is a truly miserable place. One is forced to spend a painful

nine months within his mothers womb, of course he is unconscious for the

first seven months, but after that it is painful. Then there is birth. So

painful that he forgets everything from the past... Then there is disease.

No one wants to get sick -- but we do... Then old age. We want to remain

young with full energy and vitality to enjoy the world but, although we

remain "young at heart" we see our body gradually becoming old and

useless. And we have to leave this body. Even though we work very hard to

build a nice house, raise a family and make so many plans for the future,

death comes and takes us away form it all. 



And, as if that wasn't enough suffering, there are three other classes of

suffering: adiatmika, adibhutic and adidevic.. Problems from our own mind,

problems caused by other living entities [arguments with other people,

flies, mosquitoes, etc] and finally suffering caused by the demigods

[earthquakes, too much rain, not enough rain, hurricanes, etc]



So to think onself happy amid all this is insanity. But we do it. Maya is

so expert. Even though we see so much suffering around us we still try to

make a comfortable arrangement here. But this world in not meant to be a

comfortable place. It is meant to frustrate our desire to enjoy separately

from Krishna so that ultimately we will come to our senses and realize

that this earth is not "where it's at," rather we should go back home,

back to Godhead and serve Krishna there...



As for devotees, a devotee fully engaged in the service of his bona fide

spiritual master and Krishna is not in the material world. Although his

body is here, his consciousness is with Krishna. He never forgets Krishna

for a moment. He has realized he is not the body so he is not so concerned

with the pains and pleasures of the body. When "suffering" comes he

accepts it, thinking, "In the past I have been so sinful, this suffering

is nothing compared to what I deserve." And he goes on serving Krishna. 



"I wish that all these calamities would happen again and again so that we

could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer

see repeated births and deaths." (From the prayers of Queen Kunti, Srimad

Bhagaavatam 1.8.25)



"This material world is certified by the Lord in Bhagavad-gita as a

dangerous place full of clamities. Less intelligent persons prepare plans

to adjust to  these calamities, without knowing that the nature of this

place is to be full of calamities. They have no information of the abode

of the Lord, which is full of bliss and without any trace of calamity. The

duty of the sane person, therefore, is to be undisturbed by worldly

calamities, which are sure to happen in all circumstances.



"Suffering all sorts of unavoidable misfortunes, one should make progress

in spiritual realization, because that is the mission of human life. The

spirit soul is transcendental to all material calamities; therefore the

so-called calamities are called false. A man may see a tiger swallowing

him up in a dream, and he may cry for this calamity. Actually there is no

tiger and there is no suffering; it is simply a case of dreams. Contact

with the Lord by any one of the nine devotional services is always a

forward step on the path going back to Godhead." (From Srila Prabhupada's

purport in "Teachings of Queen Kunti".



I would strongly recommend this book, "Teachings of Queen Kunti" to

everyone. It is a very beautiful commentary of the prayers of Queen Kunti

from the Bhagavatam. It covers this subject matter very well.





Hare Krishna!



Your servant,



Madhudvisa dasa       

(madhudvisa@krishna.org)      /sudarsana

                                

All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!
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