Obstacles Along the Path

2 June 2011--When one takes up the all-auspicious path of Krishna consciousness one should expect that there will sometimes be obstacles. The key to handling them properly is not to become discourage or bewildered, but to instead accept them as exciting opportunities to make progress in Krishna consciousness.

I faced such a challenge as I was departing from Sofia this morning. Just before getting on the airplane for London my computer software crashed. All attempts to get it to boot up failed. Now I am staying up past 2:30 am, the time I normally rise, to completely reinstall the operating system from scratch and then write and upload "Thought for the Day." By Krishna's grace I did a back up this morning, so there was very little data loss. Only a few emails that I received this morning were lost. So if you emailed me recently and don't hear back from me within two days, you should send your email again.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: How to Prove that "Me" in Gita Refers to Krishna?

I am having problems in convincing my friends that "Me" in the Gita refers to Krishna and Krishna alone. Please help me with strong quotations and references that it is only Krishna. Is there evidence to show how absurd it is to say that He is not referring to Himself when He says "Me?"

Servant of your servants,
A.V.

Answer: How Can it Not Refer to Krishna?

How when Krishna says "Me", this cannot not refer to Krishna. Their analysis is not very intelligent. Ask your friends if when they say "me" they are referring to someone other than themselves. To say that me refers to someone other than oneself is absurd.

Just see how much Krishna is referring to Himself in the follow verse:

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi yuktvaivam
atmanam mat-parayanah

SYNONYMS
mat—manah—always thinking of Me; bhava—become; mat—My;
bhaktah—devotee; mat—My; yaji—worshiper; mam—unto Me;
namas-kuru—offer obeisances; mam—unto Me; eva—completely;
esyasi—you will come; yuktva—being absorbed; evam—thus;
atmanam—your soul; mat—parayanah—devoted to Me.

TRANSLATION
Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.
--Bhagavad-gita 9.34

To argue that Krishna is not saying to think of Him, is not saying to become His devotee, is not saying to offer obeisances to Him, is not saying to become absorbed in Him, and is not saying to come to Him is patently absurd. This is simply the ridiculous word jugglery of the impersonalists, who refuse to surrender to God because they consider themselves to be God. We are not so foolish as to believe them.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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