Suppose we strive to practice bhakti and live purely, but fail — and fail repeatedly. We may feel disheartened: “When I am so impure, how can I ever come closer to  God? Should I even continue practicing bhakti?”

Firstly, feeling bad after doing bad is good; that bad feeling acts as an inner deterrent from wrongdoing and ensures that we don’t become nonchalant about repeated wrongdoing. Simultaneously however, when we are knocked down, if that bad feeling starts beating us down repeatedly, we may become totally disheartened; we may give up trying to live purely.  

To avoid such debilitating discouragement, Gita wisdom reveals that Krishna is a considerate God; he understands that our past conditionings aren’t always easy to overcome. He doesn’t fixate on phases when those conditionings overpower us; he also sees what we do after those phases subside. If we don’t reject pure living as impractical, if we don’t dismiss bhakti as impotent, if we resume our bhakti practices, he appreciates that resilience. He considers us well-situated if we stay determined to serve him even after succumbing to wrongdoing (09.30). By steady bhakti practice, we will soon become purified; he proclaims that we won’t perish (09.31). 

Of course, if we become nonchalant about our lapses and don’t even try to purify ourselves, then that shows our heart is not committed to Krishna; he stops intervening personally in our life, and we come under the stringent laws of karma. 

But if our heart is committed to him, as shown by our resilience in practicing bhakti, then he gives us hope and strength to persevere in ou bhakti practices. When we focus not on our conditionings but on our Lord’s unconditional love, we can slowly but surely overcome our conditionings.  

Think it over:

  • When is the bad feeling after doing bad good and when bad?
  • How can we know if our heart is committed to Krishna or not?
  • Even if we succumb to wrongdoing, how can we please Krishna and be purified?

***

09.30 Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination.

 

To know more about this verse, please click on the image
Explanation of article:

Podcast:

Download by “right-click and save”