11.55: Are we treating Krishna as an optional filler in our life?

Our time is one of our most wanted resources. Our fast-paced culture places so many demands on us that fitting all the items on our to-do list into a twenty-four hour day is something like fitting a roomful of objects into a car-dickey. It seems impossible because it is impossible. The only way ahead is to sort and shortlist. Even in our shortened list, the sequence of filling is important. If we put the big objects in the dickey first, then we can fit in the smaller objects in between. However, if we put the small objects first, then we just can’t fit in the big objects later. Similarly, if we allot time for our big to-dos, those that require substantial and quality time, then we can fit the smaller to-dos in between. However, if we allot time to the smaller to-dos first, then we will have no time left for the big to-dos.

As aspiring devotees, we consciously know that our devotional activities like chanting and studying scripture are big to-dos. Yet while allotting time many of us subconsciously place these activities last by thinking: “I will do these whenever I get time.” This thought implies that we are treating Krishna as a filler in between our other more-important priorities. Moreover, as whenever includes the possibility of never, we end treating Krishna as an optional filler.

The Bhagavad-gita (11.55) urges us make Krishna our supreme goal and our foremost priority (mat-parah). Even if this seems impractical if we try to do it by taking a modest leap of faith, Krishna will reciprocate in many unexpected ways by giving us the intelligence and the ability to adjust other things. That, indeed, is the magical dynamism of Krishna consciousness