Its privilege to struggle for Krishna | Prayers of Queen Kunti | Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī #Shorts

20 Feb 2022 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:22

In this devotional short, Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī recounts an anecdote where A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, while descending a lift at the Fifth Avenue Temple, declines his servants' suggestion to rest at the nearby farm project Gītānagari, stating that he does not wish to relinquish his "privilege to struggle for Krishna." The speaker interprets this as a model of unwavering dedication: even when faced with fatigue or difficulty, a true devotee embraces the struggle as an opportunity for deeper service. Goswāmī then parallels this attitude with the prayer of Queen Kuntī from the first canto of the Bhagavata, wherein she asks the Lord to increase her calamities so that her meditation at His lotus feet intensifies, accelerating her liberation. The talk concludes with chanting of the Hare Krishna and Hare Rama mantras, reinforcing the message that hardships are to be welcomed as spiritual catalysts.

Chapters

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. Once Prabhupāda was coming down the lift of the Fifth Avenue Temple. So Prabhupāda was coming down the lift and his servants were advising him, "Prabhupāda, please go and take rest in Gītānagari." You know, Gītānagari is a farm project not far from New York. But Prabhupāda said, Please don't take away my privilege to struggle for Kṛṣṇa. In other words, a devotee, even if he has to struggle for Kṛṣṇa, even if he has to go through difficulties, he is not in any way discouraged. Rather, he takes this as an opportunity to increase his devotional service to the Lord. Just like Queen Kuntī, Prasad Raaval's prayers in the first canto that, "My dear Lord, please increase my calamities. Because as you increase my calamities, I meditate at the lotus feet even more. And the more I meditate at the lotus feet, the faster I become free from the cycle of birth and death." Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Rāma.