Volunteer

STOP SERVING GOD AS AN ADVISOR

Hare Krsna,

My obeisances to all devotees, guru and gauranga.

 

I have started to read a book from Chaitanya Charan Das prabhu called “Gita for daily enrichment”. I think most of you might have the book with you. But for those who mainly rely on this site for Q&A, association and discussions on Krsna, I would like to present one chapter a day (except weekends and public holidays AEST). I am happy to do this service to bring Chaitanya Charan Das prabhu’s words to everyone.

 

All credits and glories to Chaitanya Charan Das prabhu. I am only typing the words onto this forum.

 

Let me know what you feel and I can keep it going until I finish the book. Feel free to provide feedback or discuss the topic on the post.

 

The format would be like the below:

 

Subject: <title of the page>

Verse discussed: BG reference

CCD’s explanation: CCD’s words

 

The first one follows below

 

Subject: STOP SERVING GOD AS AN ADVISOR

 

Verse discussed: Bg 2.6

 

na caitad vidmaḥ kataran no garīyo

yad vā jayema yadi vā no jayeyuḥ

yān eva hatvā na jijīviṣāmas

te ’vasthitāḥ pramukhe dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ

 

Translation:

Nor do we know which is better – conquering them or being conquered by them. If we killed the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, we should not care to live. Yet they are now standing before us on the battlefield.

 

CCD’s explanation:

Everyone wants to serve God, but as an advisor. This is true even, and especially, for atheists; their normally non-existent God pops into existence whenever they feel like advising Him, and vanishes into non-existence after gratefully accepting their counsel. However, as Arjuna discovered at the start of the second chapter of the Gita, giving advice to God only frustrates and confuses us: frustrate us because we can’t change the inevitable will of providence, and confuses us because our mind keeps coming up with new and self-contradictory advices.

 

When things go wrong, they are meant to remind us that we are not the controllers. However, we neglect the reminders and to hold on to our cherished role as controllers, we take on the additional role of advisors to God. The irony is that only when we stop advising God and start hearing from him do we let him do what we actually want him to do: help us.

 

Hearing the Gita from Krishna enabled Arjuna to redefine his own role in the relation with Krsihna. Before hearing the Gita, he thought of himself as the controller and Krishna as the co-operator. After hearing the Gita, he understood Krishna is the controller and himself to be the co-operator. His corrected understanding paved the way for Krishna to guide him to a glorious victory.

 

When things apparently go wrong, we need to submissively and prayerfully hear from Krishna through his representatives and through the inner voice. They we gradually realize that Krishna already has the most perfect plan. The only thing wrong is it is that we have taken on a self-appointed role as krishna’s advisor. When we take up the right role as Krishna’s assistant, he uses us to do glorious things that far excel our best abilities.

 

Chant and be happy.

 

Srila prabhupada ki jai..

 

Hare krsna

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