We live in an age where it is easy to be cynical. Unscrupulous forces out to fleece us abound in every field. In our everyday life, say while boarding a plane or accepting a physician’s prescription, we choose to trust, because we know that we can’t live without it. But when it comes to Krishna, we think that we can live without trusting. And as avoiding trusting protects us from being cheated, we feel justified in doing so.
Yet cynicism towards Krishna, no matter how seemingly justified, has a disastrous end-result – it robs us of hope.
When things go wrong, as they inevitably do in life sooner or later, the faith that there’s a higher plan in action – a plan that will in due course reveal itself – gives us the strength to persevere.
When things go wrong, as they inevitably do in life sooner or later, the faith that there’s a higher plan in action – a plan that will in due course reveal itself – gives us the strength to persevere. When cynicism robs us of this faith, then it robs us of hope. Without that hope, there’s hardly anything left to live for. The robbery of the impetus to live is the worst of all robberies – a robber that cynicism induces us to inflict upon ourselves.
And when the ultimate hopelessness confronts us at the time of death, it is the power of trust that kindles within us the supreme hope based on the divine promise that death is not a termination, but a transition – a transition to life and love eternal, if we choose to live faithfully by practicing devotional service to Krishna.
The Bhagavad-gita (04.40) rightly warns that faithlessness begets misery both in this world and the next. By rejecting cynicism and intelligently choosing to trust Krishna, we gain access to our greatest power – the power of trust that overcomes hopelessness with hope, purposelessness with purposefulness and death with life everlasting.
beautiful article!
It is because of such deep thoughts by Chaitanya Charan prabhu that I find Bhagavad Gita extremely applicable in everyday life.
Thank you very much prabhu for sharing your deep wisdom.
Thank you Prabhuji for the thought-provoking insights on the wonderful verse. People dont put trust in Krishna as they have wrong expectations that Krishna will fulfill all their wishes and that too immediately. The moment any desires are not fulfilled they start becoming cynical and say they have ‘lost’ faith when they never had it in the first place. To truly trust Krishna one has to accept the results of any frutive endeavours as Krishna’s will. As you have so nicely put it “When things go wrong, as they inevitably do in life sooner or later, it is the faith that there’s a higher plan in action that will in due course reveal itself that gives us the strength to persevere.”
Hare Krishna Prabhuji
PAMHO
Thank you very much for such a nice explanation of this verse. The last paragraph is really something to digest – “the power to trust Krishna is our greatest power …”
Hari Bol
Narottama das