If you can see His Grace in every circumstance then you can attain Him

There was a king whose prime minister was a great devotee. He always used to provide solace for others and pacify persons who came to him for help with their worldly troubles. He used to say, “You should not be disturbed or disheartened. You do not know what you did in your past life. You do not know what you will do in the future. So by seeing this present loss you should not be disturbed. There should have been a greater loss but by the Grace of Sri Krishna it has been reduced. It is all for the best! It is all for the best! Don’t be disheartened”.

Once, the king went to hunt in the forest along with his prime minister and other soldiers. In ancient times kshatriyas used to go to jungles for hunting. While roaming in the jungle the soldiers became separated from the king and the prime minister. While the king and his prime minister were moving separately through the jungle the king saw a beast. The king shot an arrow to kill the beast but by mistake the arrow went through his thumb. The finger was cut and there was profuse bleeding. Out of pain he was expressing his sorrow, “I am supposed to always fight. My thumb, which is vital for archery, is cut. It is a great loss.” The prime minister tried to pacify him, saying “You do not know what you did in your past life and you do not know what you will do in the future. There should have been a greater loss but by the Grace of Sri Krishna it is reduced. So you should not worry.”

But the king was enraged and said “My finger is cut and it is bleeding profusely. It is a serious loss to me but you are saying whatever is done by the Supreme Lord is good for me. You can advise me but if suffering comes to you and I advise you in the same way, what will you think?” The Prime minister replied, “It is applicable to all. Krishna takes care of everybody. A greater loss has been saved.”The king was furious and thought “I will teach you.” He continued walking with the prime minister through the jungle when he saw a well in the distance, covered with bushes and grass. Taking his prime minister the king went near the well and all of a sudden he pushed the prime minister into it. The king said “Whatever is done by the Lord is for your good.” The prime minister said, “Yes without His will you cannot push someone into the well. It is His desire that you push me. Trust me! Trust me! Since He is all good it is for the best.”

The king challenged “Where is your God? I am here and you are there, where is your God? If I leave this place will He rescue you?”

The prime minister replied from the well “If Hari protects someone then nobody can kill him and if Hari wants to kill someone then nobody can protect him. They have no power.”

The king said “Oh! You haven’t given up your dog mentality. So, you can stay here and you can die here.” When a person becomes enraged their mind becomes disturbed and at this time the king’s mind was disturbed.

In that jungle there were many robbers. They used to worship goddess Kali to bring about the fulfilment of their robbery. They had just been successful in a robbery and wanted to sacrifice a man to goddess Kali for her satisfaction. They brought a pujari and asked him to perform puja and they went out to find a man for offering. They soon found the king and they thought, “Goddess Kali is so gracious! She has sent man to us and we did not even have to go to the village or the town.”

The dacoits surrounded the king, arrested him and tied him up. Then they they took him to the pujari for sacrifice. According to the religious rules the king needed to be bathed before being sacrificed. So the king was first taken to a tank and bathed and then he was taken to the pujari. Just as the pujari was about to sacrifice the king he saw that the king’s thumb was seriously injured and bleeding. If an injured person is sacrificed the result will be reversed. So, the pujari told the robbers “If this man is sacrificed the result will be bad because he is injured.”

The robbers exclaimed “Oh no! This spoils all our efforts and money. Release this person. Get out!”

When the King finally made his way back to his own capital he started to realise that what the prime minister had said was correct. “If my thumb had not been injured my life would have been finished. So I have committed a great offense to my prime minister. Now I don’t know if he is alive or not! I did a terrible thing out of anger!” So he immediately ordered his army of soldiers to go and rescue the prime minister.

When they arrived near the well they found the prime minister sitting on the grass chanting Harinam. By the Lord’s Grace he had not suffered much. When he was brought back to the kingdom the king bowed down, explained what had happened to him and said. “I have committed a great offense, please excuse me.”

“No! No! It's OK. You have acted according to God’s desire and because of that I have benefited. By pushing me in the well you actually saved my life. If I had been with you the dacoits would have sacrificed me instead. We did not know what we did in the past and what we will do in the future. So we cannot see the adjustment.”

Whatever is done, is done by the will of the Supreme Lord and it is for the good of all. ‘tat te ‘nukampam sushamiksa mano’ (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.8). If you can see His Grace in every circumstance then you can attain Him. If you are disturbed then you cannot. ‘tat te ‘nukampa sushamiksa mano’. If you can see things as they are then you will see God's Grace in every circumstance.

We are reaping the fruits of our own actions, so we should not blame others for our misfortune. We are all reaping the fruits of our own actions. As you sow, so shall you reap.