Page 17 - Metaphysical questions of life

Desire is a subtle form of condi oning for the living en ty. The Lord

fulfills his desire as he deserves: Man proposes and God disposes. The
individual is not, therefore, omnipotent in fulfilling his desires. The Lord,
however, can fulfill all desires, and the Lord, being neutral to everyone,
does not interfere with the desires of the minute independent living en-
es. However, when one desires Kṛṣṇa, the Lord takes special care and
encourages one to desire in such a way that one can a ain to Him and
be eternally happy. The Vedic hymns therefore declare, eṣa u hy eva

sādhu karma kāraya taṁ yam ebhyo lokebhya unninīṣate. eṣa u
evāsādhu karma kāraya yam adho ninīṣate: “The Lord engages the
living en ty in pious ac vi es so that he may be elevated. The Lord en-
gages him in impious ac vi es so that he may go to hell.” (Kauṣītakī
Upaniṣad 3.8)

Similarly, the Mahabharata (Vana-parva 31.27) states:

ajño jantur anīśo ’yam / ātmanaḥ sukha‐duḥkhayoḥ

īśvara‐prerito gacchet / svargaṁ vāśv abhram eva ca
“The living en ty is completely dependent in his distress and happiness.

By the will of the Supreme he can go to heaven or hell, as a cloud is
driven by the air.”

Therefore, the embodied soul, by his immemorial desire to avoid Kṛṣṇa
consciousness, causes his own bewilderment. Consequently, although
he is cons tu onally eternal, blissful and cognizant, due to the li leness
of his existence he forgets his cons tu onal posi on of service to the
Lord and is thus entrapped by nescience. And, under the spell of igno-

rance, the living en ty claims that the Lord is responsible for his condi-
onal existence. The Vedānta-sūtras (2.1.34) also confirm
this. Vaiṣamya-nairghṛṇye na sāpekṣatvāt tathā hi darśaya : “The Lord
neither hates nor likes anyone, though He appears to.”

The path to libera on from material entanglement

However, a sincere devotee, who has one purpose for the outcome of

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