Nobody can escape hardships, but we can overcome these with God’s help

For a long, I have wondered about verse #18.36 of the Bhagavad-Geeta, which goes like this, “O Arjuna, now hear from Me about the three types of happiness, by practicing them one enjoys, and achieves the end of miseries.” Then, how is this possible in this ‘duhkhalaya’ (a place of misery)? Lord Krishna has left no one in doubt where we are when He stated, “Those great souls, achievers of the supreme perfection, having achieved Me, do not take rebirth in this impermanent place of miseries. (8.15) In the verse # 14.20, the Lord has further said, “By transcending these three modes caused by the body, an embodied soul enjoys nectar, freed from birth, death, old age, etc. related miseries. In verse #13.8, Lord Krishna has warned us about the miseries and faults of birth, death, old age and sickness.

But there are ways to reduce and transcend duhkha. First, how do we reduce our suffering? Lord Krishna guides, “One whose eating and recreation are appropriate; one who strives appropriately in activities; one who sleeps and stays awake as required suffers less. (6.17) Then, there are ways to transcend the feeling of duhkha. 

Unfortunately, most of us are neither yogis nor the ones who are perfect in eating, recreation, effort-making and sleep. Therefore, tolerance is a must, stated very clearly by Lord Krishna in verse # 2.14, “The contact between senses and their objects are givers of cold, heat, pleasure and misery, being temporary they come and go; tolerate them.” Even a yogi gets dukkha but is not disturbed. Therefore, we must be mentally prepared to tolerate our share of suffering. Shouldn’t we find out how to go about it? The Bhagavad-Geeta has the answers.

Hardly anyone is seeking answers from this book of eternal wisdom. If anything, none of us are prepared to accept any suffering at all; we must be exempt from all pains and troubles. It is no wonder that one begins to get frustrated, lament and blame luck as if this luck belongs to someone else. It is evident from the verse quoted that tolerance is necessary. If it wasn’t, the Lord would not have asked us to tolerate it. And God has also given us a good tolerance capacity, otherwise, it would have been very unfair. How does one tap this latent Shakti that all of us have? The answer is God. Not only God can make our pains tolerable but assure us that we will be able to continue without losing our equanimity.

What is my experience? Like everyone, I also didn’t like any suffering. To avoid it, I disciplined myself greatly. Still, suffering came. Having exhausted all possible options, I turned to God for help. Over a long period, the realisation came that suffering is inevitable in this material world. Therefore, the focus must be on somehow making it tolerable such that one does not lose mental peace of one’s mind. This God has promised in verse #18.62 when He stated, “In all respects take My shelter. By My mercy, you will achieve supreme peace.” And this has started to become possible; my suffering has become tolerable. What more can I ask for?

(The writer is a spiritual teacher)