Burlingame, CA
Even great souls meet reversals of fortune and unexpected mishaps while living in the material world. What to speak of others?
Prthu Maharaja, for example, while attempting to complete a series of one hundred horse sacrifices to satisfy the Lord, was frustrated by Indra who deliberately disrupted the last sacrifice.
Indra had previously completed one hundred such sacrifices and didn’t want to be outdone by Prthu Maharaja.
Prthu Maharaja was at first greatly disturbed by Indra’s mischief and tried repeatedly, but unsuccessfully to stop him from ruining the final sacrifice. Seeing that Prthu Maharaja was prepared to kill Indra to complete the sacrifice, Lord Brahma intervened and gave Prthu Maharaja the following advice:
“My dear King, do not be agitated and anxious because your sacrifices have not been properly executed due to providential impediments. Kindly take my words with great respect. We should always remember that if something happens by providential arrangement, we should not be very sorry. The more we try to rectify such reversals, the more we enter into the darkest region of materialistic thought.”
Here’s Srila Prabhupad’s purport to the verse:
“Sometimes the saintly or very religious person also has to meet with reversals in life. Such incidents should be taken as providential. Although there may be sufficient cause for being unhappy, one should avoid counteracting such reversals, for the more we become implicated in rectifying such reversals, the more we enter into the darkest regions of material anxiety. Lord Krsna has also advised us in this connection. We should tolerate things instead of becoming agitated.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.9.34)
Trying hard to counteract the onslaught of troubles that are inevitable in this temporary, changing world, leads one into the “darkest regions of material anxiety.”
Knowing this, bhakti yogis, carefully heed Brahma’s advice and practice tolerance when faced with providential disturbances.
Om Tat Sat
Vaisesika Dasa
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