Secrets of the Soul 4

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ’nityās
tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata

“O son of Kunti, the impermanent appearance of heat and cold, happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course are like the appearance of winter and summer season. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.14]

Now Arjuna’s question is, “Yes, I understand that my grandfather is spirit soul and this body is material. Still, I’m human. By nature I’ll be unhappy if my grandfather and teacher are killed. Whether or not I realize the spiritual truth of the soul, I’ll still be unhappy.” Of course, even a self-realized soul is unhappy to see the suffering of this world. No one wants himself or others to die.

So Kṛṣṇa is instructing Arjuna that this kind of unhappiness and distress, is natural in this world. You cannot avoid it. These are necessary distresses. The example He’s giving is that severe heat and cold must simply be tolerated, because nothing can be done about them. In the winter season, the winter cold is very severe, intolerable. Just like in Canada it sometimes goes 30 degrees below zero. Does it mean that they’ll close their offices and work, and stop everything? No, everyone’s business is going on as usual. Spiritual maturity means that one has to be able to tolerate suffering patiently, without being disturbed.

In the desert during the summer, the temperature is very hot. 110 degrees or higher is not unusual. The scorching heat is so bad, the street is like a frying pan. But still, one has to go to the office, one has to go to work. There are some cases of heatstroke. Still, nobody can stop his duty. Life must go on, and food must be cooked on the fire in spite of the soaring summer temperatures.

Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is advising Arjuna that, “Even if you think that by discharging your duty as a warrior, as a ksatriya, your grandfather will be killed, still there is no cause of lamentation. He’ll get a new body and rejuvenated energy. But even if your bodily conception of life is so strong that you are sorry, you simply have to tolerate the difficulty, just as one has to tolerate extreme heat and cold in winter and summer.” There is no use crying, “Oh, there is extreme heat, extreme heat.” Will lamenting make it any cooler? What can you do? That is nature’s law. Extreme heat—yet everyone is cooking. Nobody says, “Oh, today is extremely hot; I cannot cook.” Everybody is cooking, although there is suffering. Similarly, in winter there is extreme cold, but everyone is going to work as usual.

Life’s duty has to be done, regardless of circumstances. There may be some suffering, but it is temporary. Kṛṣṇa never says, “Oh, my dear Arjuna, you are My friend. You are feeling so sorry to have to fight your relatives. All right, I shall do it for you.” Kṛṣṇa is practical; He says, “You have to do it.” Although He also says, “This battle is arranged by Me. They’re already killed by My will. Nobody is going back home. Still, you have to do it.”

So persons who are spiritually conscious, engaged in God consciousness or Kṛṣṇa consciousness, should always know that everything is to be done by Kṛṣṇa. We cannot do anything without Kṛṣṇa’s sanction. He is the actual doer and enjoyer in all bodies. But still, we have to do our own duty. Not that we should think, “Oh, Kṛṣṇa will do everything. Therefore we need not try to perform our work.” That is laziness, lethargy, ignorance.

You have to do your own duty, but with detachment, depending on Kṛṣṇa for the result. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You don’t have to be sorry if there is failure, and you don’t have to be too much jubilant if there is success. Everything is done by Kṛṣṇa; this is the attitude of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We all have to do our own duty. Never mind whether it is suffering or happiness. It doesn’t matter. The important thing in this life is to attain self-realization. Everything else is unimportant. That is the transcendental consciousness that Kṛṣṇa is imparting to Arjuna.

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