Is Krishna Partial? - Part 3

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev.

This is in continuation of the previous offering titled, "Is Krishna Partial?" wherein we were meditating on responses from Sukadev Goswami and Narada Muni to Parikshit Maharaj and Yudhishtir Maharaj on this topic. In the previous offerings we saw that,

1. Krishna is transcendental to material modes and hence He is impartial.
2. The prominence of goodness, passion and ignorance decides the victory.

Today let us see what more points Sukadev Goswami gives Parikshit as proof that Krishna is impartial,

3. Everyone enjoys the fruits of his qualitative activities (karma): We have to accept the fact that we enjoy fruits of our own activities. Whether I am enjoying or suffering, it is due to my karma only. That means I should not blame anybody. When something happens to us, first blame goes to the Lord, "O Krishna, why have You done to me?" However, if we can simply accept this one statement one hundred percent in our life, we will never be complaining and we are pacified. That is why H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj would always say that if we apply this one quality of blaming ourselves instead of blaming others, then our life will be successful. In this regard, Maharaj quotes a very powerful and practical verse from the shastras,

sukhasya duḥkhasya na kopidātā
parodadātīti kubuddhireṣā
purākṛtam karma sadaiva bhujyate
dehin kvacin nistara yat tvayā kṛtaṁ

No one is the cause of our happiness and distress. Only a foolish person thinks that the miseries are given by others. We always enjoy happiness or distress based on our previous karma. So, as long as one is embodied, he has to patiently tolerate the results of his past karma and by this way he can get rid of it.

4. Krishna responds according to one's receptiveness: We are part and parcel of Krishna and so we have His characteristics in minute quantities. But because we are conditioned so much by the material modes, even the pleasure potency of the Lord becomes troublesome for us. A very good example for this is our lack of interest to take up the study of Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita seriously as Maharaj always wanted us to. The fire of sattva guna, rajo guna and tamo guna is burning in all of us, in different proportions. Depending on the proportion of these gunas within us, our receptiveness to understand Krishna differs. When a log of wood is wet, it will not catch fire easily. But if the wood is dry, immediately with a spark, it will catch fire. Same way, if we are covered by the lower gunas, the sattva guna which is also present within us will not be effective. But if we are clean, we become a recipient of Krishna's favor. Less intelligent men take this as partiality of Krishna. This is completely a misconception. This is not Krishna's partiality but it is His response to the proportion of our sincerity to understand Him. We have live examples before us of acaryas like Srila Prabhupada and many of his disciples like H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj who were so much favoured by the Lord, not because He was partial towards them but because they dedicated their lives for Him and Krishna had no other choice but to reciprocate, showering His mercy upon them.

H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj took up devotional service just by listening to a Bhagavatam lecture of Prabhupada. One day in Oxford Street he saw some westerners singing "Hare Krishna" and dancing in the street. He saw the devotion in them and he was very much attracted and he went to the temple in Bury Place near the British Museum and there he heard from a young devotee from Amsterdam, H G Hare Krishna Das. Maharaj is coming from a very very traditional Vaishnava family in India and he himself was a sanskrit scholar. But he was listening to the young boy, younger than his son, speaking Srimad Bhagavatam and in his eagerness in hearing Bhagavatam and due to his natural humility, he was so deeply impressed that this devotee was speaking with so much conviction! It was a very moving experience for Maharaj and he asked, "How did you learn this?" and Hare Krishna Prabhu told that, "I am simply repeating the words I have read in the books of my spiritual master HDG AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada." From then on Maharaj was completely absorbed in studying Srila Prabhupada's books for hours together and preaching his message all over the world for the rest of his life. As it is mentioned in SB 7.1.9,

jyotir-ādir ivābhāti saṅghātān na vivicyate
vidanty ātmānam ātma-sthaṁ mathitvā kavayo ’ntataḥ

The all-pervading Personality of Godhead exists within the heart of every living being, and an expert thinker can perceive how He is present there to a large or small extent. Just as one can understand the supply of fire in wood, the water in a waterpot, or the sky within a pot, one can understand whether a living entity is a demon or a demigod by understanding that living entity's devotional performances. A thoughtful man can understand how much a person is favored by the Supreme Lord by seeing his actions.

Prabhupada gives a nice example in the purport that a teacher instructs the student if the student is capable of taking more and more instructions. Otherwise, in spite of being instructed by the teacher, the student cannot make strides in his understanding. This has nothing to do with partiality. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita verse 10.10, "To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they come to Me."

This indicates that Krishna is prepared to give bhakti-yoga to everyone, but one must be capable of receiving it. That is the secret. Thus when a person exhibits wonderful devotional activities, a thoughtful man understands that Krishna has been more favorable to this devotee. Srila Prabhupada went to America at the age of 69. Until then, he was making his foundation so strong that within the short span of ten years he could establish Krishna Consciousness throughout the world. There were many people who discouraged him from boarding the ship to America at that age but still he did not budge an inch from his determination. By his unflinching determination and dedication to serve the instructions of his spiritual master, he was favored by the Lord to achieve overwhelming success in his mission. Thus we can understand that Krishna responds according to the degree of our surrender.

Krishna willing, we will see more proofs of Krishna's impartiality in the ensuing offerings.

Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev, 
Uma Prathap
Abu Dhabi.