The Fire of Ordeal

The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna,
and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are
seated as on a machine, made of the material energy

The Fire of Ordeal

“God impartially induces the fallen souls to act in the way that is consequent on the deeds of their previous births and to enjoy the fruition of their labors but, out of His great mercy to His devotees, He purges out, by the fire of ordeal, the root of all karma, viz., nescience and evil desires.”

By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, from Śrī brahma-saṁhitā 5.54

Lord Krishna sometimes puts His devotees through ordeal and tribulation in order to burn the root of their karma and purify them so that they can attain ultimate salvation faster. This is certainly His special mercy upon the devotee as opposed herein to the Lord’s dealings with the fallen souls who have no desire at all to serve Him but to simply engage in fruitive works for their own interests. For such fruitive workers the Lord gives them the remembrance, birth after birth, of how to act in accordance with the reactionary activities of their previous births and to enjoy the fruits of their labor. In this way we can understand that Krishna as Paramatma, Supersoul, is the ultimate facilitator of the living entity’s karma. The deeds of the living entity qualify him to receive a particular type of body in his next birth and also a particular amount of enjoyment and suffering in that body.

The planets or their ruling deities administer the karmic circumstances of the living entities; The living entity is born at the precise time and place that will allow the various influential planets to effect his new life according to his deeds in previous lives. The planets can therefore be seen as the facilitators of the living entity’s karma, but beyond the delegated authority of the planets is the Supreme authority, Supersoul, Who has the final prerogative in the matter. Such authority is exercised by the Lord not indirectly but directly, in each and every circumstance of the living entity traversing the material world. Such is the all-pervasive omnipotence unique to the Lord.

“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.” (BG 18.61)

“I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.[…]” (Bg 15.15)

“Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, are cast by Me into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life.” (Bg 16.19)

“Astrological calculations are called jyoti-śāstra. Because the jyoti, or effulgence, in the material world comes from the different stars and planets, the science is called jyoti-śāstra, the science of the luminaries. By the calculations of jyoti, our future is indicated. In other words, all the luminaries—the stars, sun and moon—witness the activities of the conditioned soul. Thus he is awarded a particular type of body.” (SB 5.13.4 Purport)

The Supreme Lord is certainly facilitating the karmic tribulations of the living entities who are averse to His service in the material world. But such tribulations are different from the tribulations of His devotees. Although appearing identical, the tribulations of the devotees are specifically aimed at the salvation of the devotee and have the intended effect of increased attraction to the service of the Lord, as opposed to the tribulations of the nondevotees which they simply endure the burden of and try to adjust their material circumstances accordingly. The tribulation of the devotee is not the Lord inducing him to act in a way that is consequent to his previous births.

One may attempt to accuse the Lord of not being all-merciful as is proclaimed by His devotees. But such an accusation can easily be proven unfounded. The nondevotee trying to enjoy the material world does not wish to serve the Lord and therefore the Lord does not directly interfere with his averse desires as He does with His devotees who actually have a desire to serve Him. But the tribulations of the material world that the ordinary fruitive workers averse to His service must endure is the indirect mercy of the Lord upon them. This is so because the material world is so made that despite being a facility for the fallen souls to imagine they are the masters of, there is only misery and tribulation all along. The miserable nature of trying to enjoy in the material world acts as the frustrating incentive platform which the fallen souls can eventually use to become disgusted with the concept of lording it over the material world and at last take to the service of the Lord under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master (who is also the mercy of the Lord) and thereby become subject to the Lord’s direct merciful, partial tribulation rather than his indirect, impartial tribulation. In other words, the Lord is simultaneously impartial to all living entities, and partial to His devotees. But all living entities are intended by the Lord to eventually become recipients of His partiality. It is not that His partiality is completely inaccessible to some arbitrarily. It is simply another feature of the Lord fulfilling the desires of the living entities. When those living entities desire to take to His service again, He encourages them in every way, and this can be seen as partiality. The Lord is all-merciful in all circumstances and from all angles.

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, is all-powerful, and He awards the results of one’s fruitive activities. Thus, although one living entity’s duration of life is very small whereas that of another is very great, He is always in His transcendental position, and there is no question of lessening or increasing His duration of life.” (SB 4.11.21)

“The very short duration of the life of the mosquito and the very long lifetime of Lord Brahmā are both awarded by the Supreme Personality of Godhead according to the results of their karma. But in the Brahma-saṁhitā we find it said, karmāṇi nirdahati: the Lord diminishes or vanquishes the reactions of devotees.” (SB 4.11.21 Purport)

It is important to draw a distinction between the Lord’s eternal associates who descend to this material world to assist Him in His activities of paritranaya-sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam: protecting His devotees and annihilating the miscreants, and the devotees who are in the process of achieving perfection in devotional service in this material world. The tribulations undergone by both is of a different nature. The pure, unallowed devotees are put through tribulations for the sake of the eternal pastimes of the Lord and to demonstrate to the world how a pure devotee behaves in the face of such tribulations, and how he remains completely undisturbed. In this way the lives of the pure devotees are always a perfect example for the living entities in this material world in every way. Whereas the tribulations imposed by the Lord on the devotees in the process of achieving perfection in devotional service are simply meant to accelerate that process and should not be taken as ordinary karma, for the Lord is now dealing with the practicing devotee in a different way than the ordinary karmis, thus they should not be put in the same category. Karmāṇi nirdahati: the Lord diminishes or vanquishes the reactions of devotees.

Your servant,
Vidura Mahatma das
1 August, 2023

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TWO FRIENDLY BIRDS SITTING ON THE SAME TREE

(The two birds are the soul and the Supersoul—one is the enjoyer and the other is the witness)

“The Supersoul fulfills the desire of the atomic soul as one friend fulfills the desire of another. The Vedas, like the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, as well as the Śvetāśvatara Upanisad, compare the soul and the Supersoul to two friendly birds sitting on the same tree. One of the birds (the individual atomic soul) is eating the fruit of the tree, and the other bird (Kṛṣṇa) is simply watching His friend. Of these two birds—although they are the same in quality—one is captivated by the fruits of the material tree, while the other is simply witnessing the activities of His friend. Kṛṣṇa is the witnessing bird, and Arjuna is the eating bird. Although they are friends, one is still the master and the other is the servant. Forgetfulness of this relationship by the atomic soul is the cause of one’s changing his position from one tree to another or from one body to another. The jīva soul is struggling very hard on the tree of the material body, but as soon as he agrees to accept the other bird as the supreme spiritual master—as Arjuna agreed to do by voluntary surrender unto Kṛṣṇa for instruction—the subordinate bird immediately becomes free from all lamentations. Both the Kaṭha Upaniṣad and Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad confirm this:

samāne vṛkṣe puruṣo nimagno
‘nīśayā śocati muhyamānaḥ
juṣṭaṁ yadā paśyaty anyam īśam asya
mahimānam iti vīta-śokaḥ

‘Although the two birds are in the same tree, the eating bird is fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other he turns his face to his friend who is the Lord and knows His glories—at once the suffering bird becomes free from all anxieties.’ Arjuna has now turned his face towards his eternal friend, Kṛṣṇa, and is understanding the Bhagavad-gītā from Him. And thus, hearing from Kṛṣṇa, he can understand the supreme glories of the Lord and be free from lamentation.”

(Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.22, Purport)