08.07: Let’s make our Krishna-connection our steering wheel, not our spare wheel

For us as aspiring devotees, the demands and desires of our material life press on us so insistently that our devotional life gets pushed to the background of our consciousness. We subconsciously treat our Krishna-connection like a spare wheel for the drive of life: “It’s important; I need it – but not right now. If things don’t work out in my material life, then my Krishna consciousness is my backup plan.”

Though we will benefit by connecting with Krishna at any level, still, to realize our life’s full potential, we need to give primary priority to our Krishna-connection. We need to elevate it from the position of a spare wheel to that of a steering wheel. This essentially means that we make our Krishna-connection as the central pivot of our life, the foremost focus around which we harmonize all our life’s decisions.

We may doubt: “Won’t this distract me from my worldly obligations and aspirations?”

Gita wisdom allays our doubts by pointing out that the Krishna-connection is life’s best steering wheel. When we don’t have this steering wheel, then we inevitably use our default steering wheel: our own mind. And the mind being short-sighted and misguided is an extremely unpredictable, unreliable and unsafe steering wheel. With it as our steering wheel, we end at best underutilizing our life’s talents and at worst ruining our life

On the other hand, if we make our Krishna-connection our steering wheel, we will be able to curb our depraved mind, use our talents tangibly and contribute effectively in this world – and also travel smoothly and swiftly towards life’s ultimate destination. No wonder, then, that the Bhagavad-gita (8.7) urges us to first fix our minds on Krishna and then shoulder our necessary worldly responsibilities.