Question: I was listening to one lecture in which I heard that there was one king who has a prime minister who was a devotee of Krishna, in every situation he said mercy of Krishna.
One day king’s finger has been cut, so prime minister said mercy of Krishna.
So, King said what type of mercy is this and put him in the jail.
The King appointed another prime minister who was jealous of the first prime minister.
One day in jungle some dacoits captured king and the new prime minister and they thought to sacrifice King in the KALI puja. When they were sacrificing, the head priest saw that the king was missing one finger; he said that he is imperfect, so he cannot be sacrificed.
Then they sacrificed the prime minister. The King then realized “Yes, losing my finger was Krishna’s mercy. And there was mercy on the original prime minister too! If he would not have been placed in jail then that day he would have been sacrificed, too.”
I want to know why Krishna’s mercy was not upon the new prime minister. We know what GOD does is for our good.
Sorry if my question is offensive.
Answer by Romapada Swami: The laws of karma are very intricate. With our limited perception, we may not be able to discern the exact cause-and-effect relationship in every situation. Both scripturally and logically, however, we can conclude that every reaction hints at past actions. Nothing in the workings of nature is haphazard or due to blind chance; if that were accepted as the alternative explanation to God, it does not explain very much either, in any case.
Truly, many have faced this difficulty in trying to understand or explain pain and suffering in the material world – “How can an omnipotent, all-loving God allow such suffering?” But Vedic scriptures give a very consistent explanation understanding which, having properly understood, one is not bewildered and shaken in their faith in God in the face of a tragedy.
While the living entity is indeed dependent on God for both happiness and distress, God is not responsible for either; we are. Under His sanction, our lives are orchestrated by higher beings (demigods) and each of us is awarded the fruits of our own past actions. See BG 13.22
Krishna never ever wishes bad for any living entity. He Himself states this in BG 5.29.
Also in the purport of BG 9.29, Srila Prabhupada explains how Krsna takes care of all living entity as a loving father; but those who are His devotees, He gives special attention to them
