Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
There is a famous saying that Health is wealth. Many a times we don't realise the value of good-health, until it comes to a point when we are not even able to do basic things, because of lack of it. When body doesn't co-operate with us, we even start losing interest and enthusiasm to do services which we used to do with great eagerness. Few days ago I was going through an inspiring correspondence between His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and one of his disciples. One mataji had wrote to him explaining that she had a debilitating muscular disorder that over the last two years had practically incapacitated her. She can barely talk and had almost lost the use of her arms and legs. "Reading is very difficult but I force the issue because I am afraid I may not finish your books before I die." Lamenting that she was unable to do even the simplest service, she wrote, "I am humbly asking if there is any way at all to regain even enough health to be able to sit and engage in some simple service . . . If it is my destiny to live a long time in this condition I am begging and crying that you will mercifully benedict me with spiritual strength to remain always at your lotus feet."
Srila Prabhupada was touched by her plea and he responded to her as follows. "As long as the body will be there, there will only be pain. Pleasure is only a misconception. Do not be sorry if you are in an 'unfortunate' situation. It can also be fortunate if you take advantage by becoming serious to become Krishna conscious. Follow the regulative principles, chant 16 rounds and as far as possible render service and study my books. Success is sure."
This body is roga mandiram - temple of diseases. So how can we expect a comfortable stay here? Indeed it is a bad bargain. But His Divine Grace is showing how we can make best use of a bad bargain. In his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam verse 1.5.33, His Divine Grace says, "The best way to make the best use of a bad bargain is to use everything in relation with the supreme spiritual being. Everything is an emanation from the Supreme Spirit, and by His inconceivable power He can convert spirit into matter and matter into spirit. Therefore a material thing (so-called) is at once turned into a spiritual force by the great will of the Lord. The necessary condition for such a change is to employ so-called matter in the service of the spirit. That is the way to treat our material diseases and elevate ourselves to the spiritual plane where there is no misery, no lamentation and no fear."
In Nathdwar we heard about an interesting incident which happened to a devotee of the Lord, who was working as a treasurer for a king. Due to envy of other ministers, the king mistook that devotee is mishandling the wealth in the treasury and sentenced him to jail. Though the devotee was not at fault, he had to stay in jail. But the devotee did not get upset or agitated, either with king or with Srinathji. He made best use of his bad bargain by writing a beautiful composition glorifying Lord Srinathji from His lotus feet to His lotus face. By the time he completed his work in the jail, the Lord made the necessary arrangements to change the king's mind and then the devotee was released. Parikshit Maharaj made the best use of his bad bargain in the form of Shrngi's curse, by listening to Srimad Bhagavatam for 7 days.
So the lesson to be learnt from these devotees is that adversities will always hit upon us. This life indeed is not a bed of roses but only a bed of thorns. But if we endeavour to serve the Lord even in that adverse situation, then by the grace of Guru and Krishna, we would be able to transcend the effect of such miseries. Tomorrow is the auspicious occasion of appearance of Lord Balarama. So let us pray at the lotus feet of Srila Gurudeva, Srila Prabhupada and the Supreme Lord Sri Balarama to bestow us with strength and sanity to be engaged in their service under all circumstances.
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