Staying Cool in the Face of Calamities

This material world is a place of calamities. There's nothing we can do to change that. It will always be a place of calamities. But there's one thing we can do. We can change the way that we perceive and how we deal with the inevitable calamities.

For example, there is a young devotee named Caitanyananda Das in Helsinki, Finland who is dying of cancer. Instead of becoming morose, he is becoming enlivened that now the time will come soon when he can personally serve Lord Sri Krishna in His eternal abode, Goloka Vrindavan.

So what can we do when calamities come to us?

If we see everything in relationship with the Lord and always remember that His loving hand is behind everything that happens, that there is a divine purpose for everything, then we will be in the proper position to remain cool-headed even the face of the most devastating calamities. By careful study and practical application of the Vedic wisdom under the able guidance of a qualified teacher, we will learn how to see everything in relationship with the Lord and never be disturbed in any circumstance. In this connection Lord Sri Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-gita as follows:

yo mam pasyati sarvatra
sarvam ca mayi pasyati
tasyaham na pranasyami
sa ca me na pranasyati

"For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me."
--Bhagavad-gita 6.30

Always remember this and your life will be inconceivably sublime!

Answers According to the Vedic Version

Question: No Vegetarian Verses?...

Sir, respectfully I have certain reservations on the non usage of meat or eggs by Krishna devotees. I hereby submit my reservations as follows:

I did not find any verse banning the usage of meat etc in the Bhagavad-gita. Your good self also did not mention it but only mentioned about sacrificing food. The animals birds etc are also the holy blessings of God like vegetables and fruits for the mankind to take advantages of it.

I have been a student of history, and have read that when the Aryan tribe migrated to India after a snow storm in Germany and were going through a period of starvation, the tribal elders feared that people might end up their live stock by eating it, and to save it they, by a religious decree, declared cow as Devimata to avoid its slaughtering and banned the use of meat as a food religiously, and to date it is being carried on.

Salam and Regards,

Azhar

Answer: Krishna Clearly Instructs...

In the Bhagavad-gita chapter three, text 13 Krishna clearly states that devotees only eat foods which have first been offered in sacrifice. Then in chapter nine, text 26 Krishna lists which are the types of foods that He will accept. He only mentions foods from the vegetarian category. He does not mention mention meat, fish, or eggs.

The history you have read about the Aryan migration from Europe originates from the erroneous speculation of Western scholars who could not accept that such an advanced culture as the Aryan culture could have its origins outside of Europe. They have dated the Aryan migration thousands of year after the Aryan civilization was already flourishing in India as evidenced by the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

I am hoping this meets you in the best of health and in an ecstatic mood.

Always your well-wisher,
Sankarshan Das Adhikari