Radhanath Swami: My sincerest gratitude to all of you for so kindly taking your very precious time to be with us, today. I was given the subject to subject to speak “In search of a Lost Love”. The most incredible discovery of my life was the simple truth that all our desires with the complex longing, gratification, and frustration have a single origin. Forgetfulness of love that is dormant within our hearts. Finding that love is our greatest need because it brings true fulfillment and that love can empower us to be instruments of a positive change within this world beyond our imagination. Some years ago, I met mother Teresa at Calcutta. She told me that the greatest problem in the world is hunger. Not hunger of the belly but hunger of the heart. People are lonely; people are emotionally starving and trying to fill it with so many other things. But the only thing that could nourish the heart is the love for god. She told me that she knows some of the wealthiest people of the world, New York, London, Sydney, Los Angeles. She saw starving people and the greatest service, greatest welfare activity one can do in this world is to feed the hunger of the heart with the god’s love. We have to have pure motivation in order to do so. We mistake temporary pleasures to be love. This mistaking of temporary sensations of the world lies at the very core of human conditions.
These flickering sensations they are like a mirage. A person who is in the desert is searching desperately for an oasis of water. But in that desperation due to longing and hopefulness, sometimes mirage appears. It appears that that mirage can quench our thirst but all we get is a mouthful of hot sand in the end. So what is real love? In order to understand that we have to understand who we really are. This body is like a vehicle, it is matter. The eyes don’t see, the ears don’t hear, the nose does not smell. The tongue does not taste and the flesh does not feel. It is you and me that are seeing through the eyes and experiencing life through the senses. Our body is compared to a chariot, the mind is compared to the reigns, and the senses are the horses. The intelligence is supposed to be directing according to the passenger the atma or the soul. This is the basic teaching of the Bhagavad-Gita. That we are not the body, not the mind but we are the living force that emanates. And that living force is our spiritual nature. Its potential is to love and its need is to be loved.
Spiritual love is what we are all searching for. Actually all the progress of civilization through millennium is simply in search of that love. Science, technology, entertainment, family life, art, music, business, and economics, were all searching for that one thing, what the heart needs to love god and to feel god’s love. Lord Caitanya prayed “nitya-siddha kåñëa-prema ‘sädhya’ kabhu naya çravaëädi-çuddha-citte karaye udaya” that love is dormant within the heart of every living being. “jévera ‘svarüpa’ haya—kåñëera ‘nitya-däsa’”. Our natural position is that we are the eternal servant of the God. This is the universal principle. In the bible Jesus speaks what is the use if you gain the whole world but you loose your eternal soul. The first great commandment is to love god with all your heart, your entire mind and all your soul and the natural consequence of such love of god is to love your neighbor as your self. How was that? How was it that the loving the centre, the god, the centre of all existence enables us to spontaneously love every living being. The gita tells “mamaiväàço jéva-loke jéva-bhütaù sanätanaù” because every living being is a part of the god. Just like every ray emanating from the sun is the part of the sun. When we discover the love of god that is within our own hearts then we see an inseparable part of god in every living being’s heart male or female, black ,white, red, yellow or brown, Hindu, Muslim,Christian, Jew ,Parsi, Jain, Sikh, Pakistani, Indian, Israeli, Palestinian, these are all temporary bodily designations. They are ever changing. They are like clothes on the body. When we actually understand our own soul and our own relationship with the god, we can identify the soul in every living being and see their relationship with god. Then instead of hatred there is love, there is compassion. It’s the fundamental greatest need in the world.
Everyone is searching for this lost love and when we recognize, what we are looking for then the real journey of human life begins. Because we are part of god, we have lost that connection with god. We are searching for that relationship. Krishna, who is the complete whole, the supreme absolute truth, He comes to this world to search for His lost lovers, us.
Krishna tells us in Bhagavad-Gita, whenever and wherever there is in arise in irreligion and there is a decline in the true religious principles, I descend to this earth. “pariträëäya sädhünäà vinäçäya ca duñkåtäm”. “Why does the lord comes to this world again and again and again?
In the western scriptures there are messiahs and prophets. In the Vedic scriptures, there is an account that accomplishes millenniums of different avatars of the lord coming according to time, place, and people of that environment to essentially give the same message that we have forgotten the lost love for god that is within us. Because of that we suffer and we have a propensity to mistreat others. Why? All of these great avatars is the supreme lover coming to this world to search to His lost servants. That is our great hope.
Sanatan Goswami and his Brihat Bhagavatmrita, he explains how one day Krishna with the Gopas and cows were returning from the forest of Vrindavana to His home. On the way a soul that has just attain spiritual perfection appeared in the cowherd pasture as a beautiful little cowherd boy. When Krishna saw him, He ran to him and embraced him and in the ecstasy of love both Krishna and the new coming cowherd boy they both fainted in ecstasy. All the gopas were very much astonished, who is this boy and why Krishna laying in the ground on unconscious state. So Balaram approach Krishna and brought Him back to consciousness by singing sweet words and fanning Him.
Then Krishna told to that new cowherd boy. He said, “You left Me long long ago. You forgot Me. But I never forgot. You life time after life time you try to enjoy the material world but I was always in your heart waiting for you to turn to Me. You suffer storms, disease, and broken hearts, sometimes you enjoyed wealth, prosperity, high education but eventually was all taken away. Did not you feel separation for Me as I felt separation for you at every minute. Then finally you turn to Me and you gave your life to Me. I saw how difficult it was in this material world for you to turn to Me and be faithful. You are ridiculed, prosecuted, criticized, sometime you had to beg but I was always with you there to protect you. Now finally you have returned home, I welcome you”.
Then Krishna brought that cowherd boy to His own house and shared Prasad with him. You see although the absolute truth is perfect and complete ‘oà pürëam adaù pürëam idaà” He is atmarama, which means he is completely satisfied in and out of Himself. He is need of anything. He is akshilarasa murti. He is the very embodiment the store house of all loving emotions. This is what the absolute truth is explained to be in our Vedic literatures, although he is full and complete and ever fully satisfied. The perfection of love is He feels pain of separation to see anyone of His children suffering in forgetfulness of Him. However small and insignificant, we may think we are, Krishna is feeling separation form us. He will not interfere with our free wills. Because love cannot be dictated, love cannot be force; love has to be an expression of our free will to actually satisfy us.
So for you and me and for every living entity in this world, “yadä yadä hi dharmasya glänir bhavati bhärata”. Krishna comes in various incarnations. He sends his messengers just to remind us of what have we forgotten. That selfless love the origin of all love Krishna is. We forget Him but He never forget us.
vedāhaṁ samatītāni
vartamānāni cārjuna
bhaviṣyāṇi ca bhūtāni
māṁ tu veda na kaścana
Bhagavad-Gita 7.26
Krishna tells us that I know everything that is happen in the past, I know everything that’s happening now and all that is yet to come. I know intimately every living being. That is the grace of god. He knows the desires, the enjoyments, the sufferings, the obstacles facing every insect, beast or human being in the earth, every fish in the sea and every bird in the sky in every planet of every universe and beyond. He is within our hearts just waiting for us to turn to Him. He is coming again and again just to try to remind us that is hope. He is such a loving guardian. He is always waiting for us.
The cowherd boys of Vrindana, they understood Krishna’s love. Therefore they are totally fearless. When the great ausra Aghasura, opened his mouth in the form of a massive snake the gopas, some of them thought it was some sort of ornament of Vrindavana just to make their play more exciting. But other say, “No, can not you smell his breath. This is a gigantic snake that’s come to kill us. They all smiled, clapped their hands and said, “Let’s go inside his mouth, Krishna will protect us”. They were smiling and running right inside that giant serpent’s mouth. Now for you and me, the little tinny serpent this big, opens his mouth, we become fearful and run away. But Aghasura was eight miles long and His mouth was like reaching the clouds and his eyes were burning with anger and lust. They just ran and clapping, smiling, and they looked at Krishna. We know that You will save us.
It is explained that Krishna, He was thinking, “What I am going to do now? They went inside his mouth. How could I kill the snake without hurting my friends because they are inside of him”? So He made a plan and He went inside. He expands Himself and ultimately He gave Aghasura placed in the spiritual world. His friends, they were actually dead. He glanced upon them and brought them back to life. Then they came out of his mouth and they said, “Krishna, let’s eat Prasad together. We are hungry”. This is the spiritual world. This is the liberated state.
Where there is complete faith and hope, complete realization in the care and the lover for Lord. Krishna gives us that. When we open our hearts to receive it to connect to that divine presence within ourselves and within everything that exists we cannot be done with our senses. No matter we made microscopes or telescopes or our intelligence, no matter how many degrees or books we memorize or through any of our sciences. Our science may be very helpful in dealing with the temper of the problems of this material world, if they are in the right hands. Otherwise it could be the cause of the problems. But actually connect to the divine, all of the great saints and all of the great acaryas throughout time told us the breeze is faith. Not blind faith but real substantial faith. Through this faith, we can see, we can hear, we can feel the divine within our selves and within every other living being and within everything that exists. Where does that faith come from? It is within our hearts but it is awakened when we associate with saintly people, who have that faith.
Krishna explains that He manifests within this world especially through the hearts and the lives of those who love Him. Krishna is searching His lost love you and revealing Himself through the scriptures and through the saintly people. Therefore it is said, “’sädhu-saìga’, ‘sädhu-saìga’—sarva-çästre kaya lava-mätra sädhu-saìge sarva-siddhi haya”. Even a moment association with a person who really loves the divine is more precious than anything else in creation because it can awaken that hope. Hope in the infinity love of god. It can awaken that faith which is preliminary to actually follow the paths that god has given us for enlightenment. It is compared this world and the illusion that covers over us to a vast ocean. It is an ocean that has no bottom and no shores.
Let’s take an example, if you are in the middle of an ocean in the darkness of night. Do you know which way to go through your eyes? But there is a compass in the boat that tells you exactly which direction you should be going. So this material existence is compare to an ocean “bhavasagar”. The human life is compared to a boat, which actually has the potential to cross over this ocean. The guru, the saintly people are like the compass, the captain of the boat and the teachings of the Vedas and other holy scriptures are like the breezes. If we have the right captain, he can teach us how to actually move forward with the help of these breezes of the great teachings.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has explained that one cannot know god by any amount of study of any amount scriptures. One cannot know god through performing even the most terrible austerities like fasting or sitting in the sun in summer or sitting in the Ganges or Gangoitri in the winter. One cannot go god even by giving huge amounts of charity. All of these things can help us to become more powerful or more pious but the only way to actually know the truth, Mahabharat and other scriptures confirm it. “mahajano yena gatah sa panthah”. To follow in the foot steps of great souls. The complex of life is the example of saintly people. When we have faith in that, that faith gives us the genuine connection.
Some people think that faith is inferior to what we call science. But every scientist has faith. No one lives even a moment without faith, even unconsciously. Every time we breathe there is an unconscious faith in us that by my inhalation it is going to nourish me with oxygen. In the most common things in life, you came here and you had faith you will arrive. Factually many people do not arrive. Every time you drive on a car, you have faith that you have to leave to your next destination. The scientists have faith in other scientist of what they have discovered. One time the people thought that the world was flat. They had faith in their scientist then. Then it was proved that the world was round. So now we have faith in that.
Mahatma Gandhi, how many of you met him? How many of you do not believe that he ever exited or he just mythology? We have faith but you never saw him, you never touched him. We have faith in people who saw him and we have faith in books. So everybody has faith. Science is based on faith also. But to go beyond the limitations of the mind, the intelligence and the ego and of course the senses, there has to be a different kind of faith, the faith in the examples and the lives of the great souls.
This is a very serious turning point in my life. Because some people believed in god and some people it is all myth. It is all some sorts of crutch that human being create just to try to give sense to this chaotic world. But then looking through history and also looking at the world today, people who are actually seeking ‘saragrahi” this essence of religion or spirituality. The people who made the greatest most positive changes in this world. The people who embodied the deepest will is compassion, who claims to gain their powers by being instruments of divine. Are they all liars? Are they all ignorant fools or sentimentalists? If they are, then us all be like that. They were in ecstasy. They were intoxicated with love and they were sharing that love with everyone. But know, they were not liars and they were not just sentimentalist creating some illusion. Otherwise they could not live the way they lived. Their compassion could not have been the way it was. So the great scriptures and the great histories teach us about the great souls. When we see, how they lived, not the people who exploit the spirituality for their own egoistic purposes but the people who actually followed. Srimad Bhagavatam is considered the essence of all the Vedas. What is Srimad Bhagavatam is just telling stories, not only about different avatars of God coming in search of lost loves. But a saint who in behalf of god are searching for the lost servants of the lord.
This is the five hundredth anniversary of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu as sannyas. Why did Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who is an Avatar of Radha and Krishna. Why did He take sannyas? Why did He leave His home to travel in search of His lost children? To invite us to come home and his method was very simple, just have a little faith in the association of saintly people, live a moral life, and sincerely chant the holy names. “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. I will take you back home. You can awaken that lost love within your own heart and find the innermost satisfaction for ever. Beyond the destructive powers of time itself, it is the soul’s love and even greater is to experience God’s love, which is always there but we do not recognize it, we cannot feel it.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Krishna they taught us that the path is not to deny the world. There is two process of bhoga and tyaga enjoyment and renunciation. They are both artificial. The natural fullest healthiest perceptions of the world we live in is to see how everything are the energy of the divine and to utilize everything in a spirit of devotion to the divine. Rupa Goswami explains to reject anything as material is incomplete renunciation because material and spiritual is simply our perception. Spiritual means to see everything in relation to god. “janmädyäù yatah” Everything emanates from the lord. “ahaà sarvasya prabhavo mattaù sarvaà pravartate” all material and spiritual worlds from Me.
Krishna explains that this material world is His divine nature. When we forget the relation between a person or things with god then our perception is material but when we see the connection and reconnect throughout consciousness with the sources of thing and we perceive the spiritual essence with that thing, which is truth and which is reality. It is not that this world is not real. The world is not an illusion. Our perception of this world is illusion because we do not see it in relation to god. We do not see that is meant for the pleasure of god. “bhoktäraà yajïa-tapasäà” due to the false ego we are seeing everything in terms of Me. I am the center. When we see that Krishna is the center then we see everything in this world is a beautiful aspect of Krishna and every situation in this world is an opportunity to express our love for Krishna and as we make spiritual progress on the path of bhakti, we realize this at every moment.
Time is so precious. In Srimad Bhagavatam Parikshita maharja had seven days to live. What did he do in those seven days? He was the emperor. He could have done he wanted, except extend those seven days. He could have gone on that incredible vacation. He could have gone to anywhere he wanted. He could have the greatest entertainers in the world, dancing and singing performing for him. But with those seven days, he searched for saintly people, sadhu sangam because he understood that to search for saintly people to be in their company to hear from them and to learn from them to be affected by their love for god is to connect to god. He spent every moment attentively for the last seven days for that purpose alone. Time is very precious.
The faith, the conviction, the realization, and the enthusiasm to really follow the spiritual path we require that sadhu sangam. It can help us to overcome all obstacles because it connects us with the inherent love of our heart. Yes lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, five hundred years ago this year, He roam the entire country of India searching for the lost souls to invite them back home.
Today is the appearance day of Sripada Balavacarya, another great avatar of the lord. He traveled the length and the breadth of India. He just had a single cotton dirty dhoti and chadar and unsown clothing. He traveled from place to place by foot, searching for the forgetful souls to restore their relationship with Krishna. In India there are 84 baithaks, which were primary places, where he sat and taught the lesson of pure bhakti.
In our modern times, our beloved gurudeva, Srila Prabhupada how he on behalf of Krishna searched for Krishna’s lost lovers. We know how Srila Prabhupada on the Jaladuta he crossed two oceans, three continents, no money, not knowing anyone. Whether he was in the bowery the lowery side of New York or in the hippy capital of head aspirants of San Francisco. Why he was there for? Why did he leave Vrindavana? He left Vrindavana for the same exact reason that Krishna leaves this spiritual world to come here. It was his compassion. He was an instrument of Krishna’s love, searching for the lost souls. Srila Prabhupada in that search he circled the world twelve times, besides Antarctica. He went to every continent on earth from the age of seventy to eighty one in searching. Not to take anything but to give Krishna’s love. That is our hope. All these great representative of Krishna, they have all taught us that saranagati. That spirit of surrender makes everything spiritually potent.
For a materialistic person surrender sounds like a horrible thing. Just like the allied forces bombed in Berlin and battered Germany. The Russian Army was marching in with millions of soldiers from one direction and bombs were dropping, the Germany surrendered. When the bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then the Japanis surrendered. Now when Krishna says, “sarva-dharmän parityajya” abandoned all verities of religions and surrender to Me, it is not like that. Of course, ultimately we all surrendered to god in the form of death. Krishna says, “I am death personified”. But nobody likes to surrender to death. But Krishna and all the great saints are talking about surrender; it is the most beautiful experience and the most wonderful concept in the all creation. It means genuinely offer our love. I am yours. How can I please you? Let me live a vibrant dynamic life and let me use all my creative abilities, my intelligence, my wealth, and whatever am I have, let me use it all as an expression of my love for you by helping all others. Not in a selfish way but in a way of compassion. That is surrender.
Krishna reciprocates we just surrender according to our tinny little capacity and Krishna showers unlimited blessings of His love. In this age of Kali, people are so much mixed up and people have so little capacity and fortitude to really follow strict spiritual principles. “kali-käle näma-rüpe kåñëa-avatära”. So lord made it so easy. Just live a pious moral life and just try to serve without selfishness. Just try to associate with people who enlivening and inspiring for these virtues. What else is required? Krishna is appeared within His name. If we chant then names of god’s name sincerely that is our surrender. Krishna I am chanting to be Your servant, to please you to purify my heart so that I can love You and be an instrument to Your compassion to the people of this world with whatever I have. Not denying the gifts that god has given us but using them in devotion. I this spirit we could realize the highest truth and discover that lost love within ourselves and be fully receptive to Krishna’s love for us, when we sincerely cry out His holy names. “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.
Question to Radhanath Swami: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Thank you for wonderful class. Maharja you told about love, but in this material world, so is there something gaining suppose there are relationships build up due to money. When money is not there and some relation build up some gaining is suppose cow and bulls. But when the cows and bulls are getting old, people are sending into slaughterhouse. So that all the love relates to selfishness, so how this love can be converted into real spiritual love?
Answer by Radhanath Swami: By associating with people who have that love and by learning from them. As we explained in the class “mahajano yena gatah sa panthah”. You cannot imitate great souls but by following in the foot steps of great souls we learn the art of loving. You have living in loving. Gratitude is necessary. Humility is necessary. But the cow is giving milk to you and then when she stops giving milk to send her to slaughterhouse, is that gratitude? Is that love? Is that the way you will survive without doing that? Of course compassion is the symptom of love. Bhakti is the method of transforming our lust and greed into love by reconnecting with Krishna. That guru and vaisnavas teaches us that method.
I just told an religious leader, who promotes very strongly ahimsa but himself eats meat. Because ahimsa is for humans but human does not extend to nonhumans. But most of his followers have dogs and cats and you just kick their dog and they are ready to kick on you. They called the police and put you in the prison in the west. But then after they called the police and they will eat the cows. Essentially it is not about health. People do not eat meat because of health but may be on some very rare occasions and it really not necessary. Some of the healthiest, strongest, greatest people ever lived they do not eat meat. They are vegetarians. So the greatest cause of global warming according to scientist is the meat industry. One great proponent of stopping the green house affect, they are saying, you stop driving your car so much and try to use electric cars. That all the things you are saying ten times less imminence were causing, if people just do not eat meat one day a month. Then all the cars in the world and all the factories. Why do not they told them that? Then he said, “What am I supposed to do? Tell these people to be vegetarian. The person said, “Why not?” It is the reality. Ecologically it is disastrous to the planet. Environmentally, ecstatically the bloodshed and the howling of cows. Bring your child to the slaughter house. You see how much he enjoys it? As far as compassion, ahimsa means to avoid suffering toward ever extent is humanly possible. So what we really comes down to people just selfishly like the taste. That’s the reason. That’s all. Either everyone else does it because I just like the taste. But love for god is to love god’s children. Wherever there is life there is the presence of the soul. We should honor, respect and be grateful. We learn that by association we give.
Question to Radhanath Swami: Maharaja as you told the compass of life is faith in saintly people but many times the compass of life is faith in saintly people but many times the compass is cheating compass. Example is in so many cases are there in India like in South India. There are so many people seem to be saintly but they are not saint and we keep faith on these people and we get cheated.
Answer by Radhanath Swami: We must understand the definition of a saint. Ravana disguised himself as saint to Sita and that’s how he cheated her. So we have to understand what the qualities of the actual saints are and if they do not act saintly then they cannot help us. Guru, saddhu, and sashtra. God speaks through the scriptures and the saddhus are the people who actually follow them and the guru is one who following the saddhus and the scriptures. “evam parampara praptam” should be a parampara a line of great souls, who are protecting the truth and we should understand what that truth is and we should understand, what are the qualities of saintly people are from the scriptures.
If we put our faith in somebody who is following but then we see that they are not actually following properly. Then Krishna will protect us, if we are sincere. We follow those who are genuine and who are real. It is not about performing magic tricks. It is not about karisma. It is not about the amount of followers. A saintly person is someone who is genuinely humble. A person who is genuinely compassionate to others and a person guide us toward god. Not a person who says, “I am going to save you but a person who is the humble servant, who is just trying to connect us to god’s love”. We are not talking about souls who are misleading in the name of saints. We are talking about real saints and real devotees.
Question to Radhanath Swami: Hare Krishna maharaja. Why does the search of love ends on Krishna? Why cant this love be towards other persons as a boy loving a girl or a girl loving a boy. Even there we get reciprocation, we get happiness, we get satisfaction, why we need to keep as the center of love?
Answer by Radhanath Swami: I was hoping that you will ask that philosophical question. That’s what you want, that’s what will you get. But the definition of love is selfless. Kama is selfish, prema is selfless. When we are trying to satisfy our own desires, our own passions, that is kama. That is not love. It may be called love. We are searching for our love through that process. But it is temporary. How many people in this world have looked for that lost love in romantic relationship? How many are singing the blues? It comes and goes. To the degree you become attached to that experience of so called love to that degree you are going to suffer what it ends. The real question is are you the body or are you the soul?
Question to Radhanath Swami: After listening to the Bhagavad-Gita course given by Gaura Gopal Prabhu, I convinced that we are the souls.
Answer by Radhanath Swami: This is the glory of sadhu sanga, association with real saints. So you are the soul. So what gives pleasure to the soul? The soul is unconcern with what is some physical temporary pleading relationships. The soul’s satisfaction is on the spiritual platform. So if you have a wife and you and your wife are sharing your lives in cultivating love for god, then that is the beautiful experience. That’s the divine relationship. It is not a matter of negating those things. It is the matter of doing it properly.
Question to Radhanath Swami: Hare Krishna Maharaja. Maharaja thank you for that enlightening words. We have seen that the object of our love keeps on changing throughout our life. Like in our childhood the object of our love is little chocolate. Then we grow up and come to the youth and then the object of love changes into bikes, fame, money or prestige. Then we come to bhakti, then our object of our love changes to Krishna. So we have so many lovers from our past and Krishna is one of the lovers. So how to identify that Krishna is the real lover?
Answer by Radhanath Swami: It is very simple. “mahajano yena gatah sa panthah”. How many saints are attached to eating chocolates? But they are all attached to Krishna.
Question to Radhanath Swami: Hare Krishna. Maharaja told that whatever happened and what is happening as well as what is going to be happened. Everything is done by with the permission of lord Krishna. I believe what is happening in our mind and our soul, it is happening with the permission of lord Krishna only. But what is our duty then and what we have to do? Because I believe whatever I am doing it is the permission of god only. What is my duty then?
Radhanath Swami: So, does it mean that everyone is doing is the will of god? Is that your understanding?
Question to Radhanath Swami: Yes. Whatever we doing, even this preaching you are telling and we are listening, even a small moment of air is also controlled by Lord Krishna. So why should we chant or dance or read the books?
Answer by Radhanath Swami: We understand the will of god because god comes to this earth to tell us His will. “yadä yadä hi dharmasya glänir bhavati bhärata” Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita “yadä yadä hi dharmasya glänir bhavati bhärata”. So for this reason, we understand God wants us to chant His holy names. So we chant His holy names. “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.
Krishna’s will is He gives us all free will. Without free will there cannot be the possibility of true love. When we misuse our free will to go against the will of god then it is the will of god there were under the control of the laws of karma. So, yes when you are suffering due to misbehavior. Your misbehavior is not god’s will. It is your will. But your karmic reaction, it is the god’s will that is given you free will. It is will of god that you get the reactions of your free will. So in that sense everything is happening under the will of god. But we have our free will on how we are going to reciprocate with god Krishna.
Question to Radhanath Swami: It means that our free will is not control under the control of Sri Krishna.
Answer by Radhanath Swami: It is but by Krishna’s all providing, unfathomable greatness within His free will He has given you minute free will to decide what you want to do ate every moment and you are responsible for every decision. God’s will is given in the scriptures. God’s will is given through the senses. If we live by those teaching and we are actually living by the will of god. Otherwise it is our own independent naughty behavior that we will have to get the consequences through the laws of Karma. So this is one of the greatest illusions and it is the greatest ways that you can personally cheat yourself and others, to think that whatever I want is god’s will. It is not god’s will. God’s will is we live a moral life. God’s will is “sarva-dharmän parityajya mäm ekaà çaraëaà vraja” we abandoned all varieties of dharma and surrendered to Him with love.
Question to Radhanath Swami: My free will is not under control of Krishna.
Answer by Radhanath Swami: Your free will is under the control of Krishna. But under Krishna’s control He gives you free will. He gives you independence to love Him or hate Him, to follow Him or deny Him. You have that free will but Krishna gives you that free will.
Question to Radhanath Swami: With the grace of Sri Krishna, with free will if I’ll keep on doing the wrong things, without the grace of Sri Krishna, it is impossible for me then come back to Sri Krishna then.
Answer by Radhanath Swami: Until you accept Krishna’s will through the saints and the scriptures, you can never back to Krishna.
