When Adversity Strikes

Things don't always go right in this material world. Sometimes when everything seems to be going right all of sudden out of the blue we are struck by adversity. When this happens a Krishna conscious person does not cave in. He does not lose his equilibrium. Rather he remembers the sublime teachings of the Bhagavad-gita and accepts such reverse conditions as a golden opportunity to strengthen his Krishna consciousness, to increase his feelings of dependence on Krishna. In this way he is always able to remain equipoised even in the midst of the most devastating situations.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Why Do We Teach the Opposite?

I read in Srila Prabhupada's books that Narayana is an expansion of Krishna. I can't agree with this because Narayana is eternal and Krishna is an incarnation of Narayana. I don't understand why our sampradaya teaches things the opposite way. Even there is an explanation in Sri Isopanishad that Krishna expands into three Vishnus: Karanodakasayi Vishnu, Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, and Ksirodakasayi Vishnu.

But the truth is that Vishnu is Narayana. He expands into Krishna, Vamana, Varaha and so on. My friends always find this weird when I preach to them. Please forgive me if I'm giving you hard time by asking you silly questions

Your humble servant
Lokesh

Answer: We Simply Repeat What's In the Scriptures

We teach different from what many Hindus commonly understand to be the truth because we speak according to the revealed scriptures, not according to hearsay. One must understand God deeply, according to the version of the revealed scriptures, not superficially, then there will be no difficulties.

In this connection just consider this illustrative example: The other day Mr. Outsider criticized Mr. Insider because Mr. Outsider heard Mr. Insider say that Barack is the president of the United States. He became very disturbed at Mr. Insider and told him that he was wrong, that the president of the United States is Mr. Obama. The fact is that both of them are right because the president of the United States is Mr. Barack Obama.

Mr. Insider naturally calls him Barack because he is an intimate childhood friend of the president But since Mr. Outsider does not have such a personal relationship with the president, he only knows him in a more formal way as Mr. Obama.

Similarly, those who know the Lord only in a more formal way call him Vishnu or Narayana. And those who know Him intimately call Him Krishna or Govinda. Just as those who know the Lord intimately do not decry those who know the Lord only formally, those who know the Lord only formally should not decry those who know the Lord intimately.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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