02.15: When life doesn’t make sense…

“Why is Krishna doing this?” We may sometimes get this question when things seem to be falling apart in our life. Gita wisdom helps us make sense of such situations by broadening our perspective of life.

Suppose we start watching a drama when the hero is being beaten. We may feel that the drama director has made a senseless plot. But, if we just wait and watch, we may well see how the drama is developing towards a fitting finale.

Gita wisdom helps us to understand how this principle applies to our life: we are not perishable material bodies, but are imperishable spiritual souls. The events in our life, no matter how devastating, are just one act in a multi-act drama. In fact, our whole lifetime is just one small part in a plot that extends across many lives to eternity.

Of course, there are substantial differences between a drama and our real life. Firstly, in our lives, we are not spectators, but actors. Secondly, and more importantly, the script of our life is not a frozen story; it is an evolving story whose unfolding is shaped by our choices. No wonder then that the Bhagavad-gita (2.15) assures us that we can attain the supreme reward of immortality if we don’t let life’s ups and downs violate our spiritual integrity. Preserving our spiritual integrity means not letting life’s upheavals tempt us to abandon our position as servants of Krishna and assume the position of becoming judges of Krishna: to not ask, “Why is Krishna doing this?” but to continue asking, “How can I serve Krishna now?” When we ask this question sincerely, and seek its answer internally through prayer and externally through counsel, then we will gradually comprehend the benevolent sense underlying the apparent nonsense happening in our lives.