(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 4 January 2013, Ladysmith, South Africa)
So, we are living in the material world and sometimes things are going well and sometimes, we think that things are not going well. But for a devotee, it is always going well! Like on New Year’s Eve, I was thinking that the year 2012 was a good year because there was devotional service. And 2013 will be a better year because there will be more devotional service. And that is actually how it is. 2014 will be better than that because there will still be more devotional service; can’t wait for 2015!
So in this way, when we look at life from a spiritual point of view then everything becomes auspicious and favourable. But we forget… we forget that transcendental picture and we become overwhelmed by the temporary conditions in this world. Either we enjoy, “Oh, it is so wonderful or oh, it is so terrible!” And either one of the two tends to totally absorb us. The same happened to Arjuna who became overwhelmed. Who became so overwhelmed by the circumstances. At this time, he was depressed and so on; and finally he turned to Krsna. He turned to Krsna for a solution. And Krsna then said, “Alright, now you become my student; I accept you as my student.” Then he immediately said, “You are mourning for things that are not worthy of grief. This is not befitting you.” And in the following verses, he begins to establish the eternal picture. The soul never takes birth; the soul never dies. As you go through different bodies in this life, from youth to old age, similarly at the time of death, you pass on into another body.
So, in other words, a very transcendental vision. Even death in this Bhagavad-gita is broadening our intelligence. So therefore we need to turn to the Gita again and again, lest we forget. That is just the nature of the human being – to forget and to become absorbed in the small reality. To see small, smaller and smaller. Oh, South Africa! Oh, Kwa-zulu Natal! Oh, Ladysmith! Oh, only this part of Ladysmith! So yeah, the Bhagavad-gita is the basis and the Bhagavad-gita is calling for this broadmindedness. Therefore, we just turn to the Gita because it is our shelter! Without the Gita, we will become ordinary people and ordinary people get upset about small things!
