If we plan for a Krishna Conscious New Year, then throughout the year Krishna will be with us. And if Krishna is with us always then our life will be full of peace and bliss.
Every Year, we welcome New Year with a hope that the coming year will bring more peace and more happiness. And we pray to Lord that the miseries which we underwent through in the outgoing year is not repeated again in the New Year.
This is what everyone looks for irrespective of nationalities, gender, religion, caste or creed. But why so? Because this is our natural constitutional position.
We are souls and as souls we are sac-cid-ānanda i.e. eternal, blissful and full of knowledge. Being blissful is our fundamental right. We all despise misery, and we meticulously plan for a life free from pain.
The cause of unwanted suffering
But in spite of all our efforts and plan miseries follow us like a shadow. In fact, our shadow leaves our company sometimes. For example, in darkness, we are all alone. But miseries never leave us.
Is there anyone who is free from suffering here? Is there anyone who never had any disease or has not lost his loved ones forever? The answer is obvious.
In fact, if we thoughtfully analyse life, we will see that the more one tries to enjoy here the more one suffers. For example, suppose that there is a family man, who takes care of his family nicely, is too attached to his wife and children then is he experiencing happiness? The answer is yes. But the important question is, how long will he be happy?
Is he going to live with his wife and children forever? So, how will he feel when either his wife or children leaves him, or he is on the deathbed surrounded by his loving wife and children? The mere thought makes us shudder with fear. But this event is surely going to occur whether anyone wants it or not. So, where is the happiness?
Whatever happiness one experiences here has an expiry date.
Now, here we make so many plans to enjoy our life. We do our best to give pleasure to our senses – eyes, ears, tongue, nose, skin. We listen movie songs, watch movies, play sports, eat delicious food, go to exotic locations.
All this we do to become happy. But these indulgences do not give any lasting happiness. In fact, many times the desire to gratify senses become the cause of great suffering.
How senses become the cause of suffering?
For example, a deer is caught and killed when its ears get captivated by the music of the hunter’s horn. A fish is caught when its tongue tries to enjoy the food hanging from the fisherman’s hook.
A male elephant is caught and enslaved when it becomes mad to touch the skin of the female elephant. A moth burns itself alive when its eyes get attracted to the light emanating from fire.
Not just the animals suffer because they give in to their senses, but we too suffer if we are engrossed in gratifying our senses. Any of our senses can become the cause of our great downfall.
Krishna confirms this in Bhagavad Gita 2.67, “As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence.”
In this world all pleasures are flickering and does not satiate our heart. And most importantly, we always live in the fear that anything wrong can happen at any moment. We all have experienced this.
And the most disgusting fact is that in spite of all our plans and efforts, we are forced to suffer here. So, as an intelligent species is it not important for us to figure out why we are never always happy here? Or what is the root cause of our suffering?
Understanding the root cause of our suffering
The answer is not complicated. Its simple. Since, we are souls, we are spiritual. So, if we are spiritual then how can we be happy with the material things of this world?
All our efforts are to give pleasure to our body which is temporary, and which ultimately dies. And since we are eternal souls, so how can we be happy with the temporary things of this world?
As a soul we never die. But in this world, we have to give up our temporary body again and again. So, can we be happy, if we are forced to die?
This is why the wisdom literatures tell us that we should not be too obsessed with this temporary world. But we should plan to return back to the spiritual world which is our original home. In the spiritual world, we do not die. There we do not suffer.
Just like in this material world, we have relationships. Similarly, in the spiritual world, we have relationship. But unfortunately, in this world, all relationships are temporary. But in the spiritual world, all relationships are forever. And our most important relationship is with Krishna.
In fact, we belong to Krishna. We are his parts and parcel. Krishna is the source of our origin and he the cause of our existence, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā, Bhagavad Gita 14.4. But unfortunately, we have forgotten and given up our relationship with Krishna, so how can we be happy?
Even in this world, we see that if a child gets separated from his biological father, he has to lead a difficult life. Similarly, since we have got separated from our original spiritual father, so how can we be happy here?
The permanent solution for all suffering
So, if we are looking for permanent solution to all our miseries then we should first find out what is the need of our soul. Soul needs Krishna. Just as a lost child attains relief from so many sufferings as he is reunited with his father.
Similarly, we will attain freedom from all suffering when we reestablish our relationship with Krishna.
In fact, more than us Krishna wants us to come to him. This is why he descends from the spiritual world. His purpose is to invite us back to his kingdom. While speaking to Arjuna at the battlefield of Kurukshetra, he says that if anyone takes his shelter then one will be free from all the sufferings, Bhagavad Gita 18.66.
And also, he says that once we go back to his world then we will not again come to this world which is full of suffering, Bhagavad Gita 8.15. Krishna has given this open invitation to all of us.
If we want freedom from all sufferings, then we should bring Krishna in our life. We should plan our life in such a way that we are always Krishna Conscious. While welcoming New Year, let us not be in any illusion that material things will bring happiness in our life.
If we want to celebrate our life then this New Year, we should become Krishna Conscious.
For everlasting peace and happiness, we should revive our relationship with Krishna who is the source of all the pleasures. If we are always Krishna Conscious, we will always be happy, even in this world and when we will be back in the spiritual world.
But if we are not conscious of Krishna then we will have to struggle in our life again and again.
