Suffering - an essential subject

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The living entity suffers because he has a material body and until the living entity comes to the understanding that this material body is not for sense gratification, he will remain in the pool of material suffering. The suffering we get in this material world is due to forgetfulness of our eternal position as servants. Actually we are not masters. The moment we think of ourselves as enjoyers and masters, then we are assured to suffer.

Krishna says that if we surrender unto Him, He will relieve us of all sufferings, so if someone rejects this offer of Krishna and then says that there is no God because he is experiencing some suffering, that is not a very intelligent position. Rather we should accept Krishna's offer and become happy.

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Suffering category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 10 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books


vanipedia.org 		A devotee should expertly manage to think always of the Supreme Lord so that the reactions of suffering cannot touch him. This is the expert management of pāpa-puṇya-pious and impious activities. An exalted devotee like Prahlāda Mahārāja is jīvan-mukta; he is liberated even in this very life in the material body. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.10.13)



vanipedia.org 		The living entities are proportionately freed from the coverings of ignorance under material existence according to different levels of work and under different influences of the modes of material nature. For example, the sufferings of jīvas situated in the mode of goodness are less than those of jīvas situated in the mode of ignorance. Pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, however, is the birthright of all living entities because every living entity is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.1.15)



vanipedia.org 		Mundane existence is itself a kind of fear because in all mundane bodies the effects of birth, death, old age and disease always keep a living being compact in fear. In the mundane world, there is always the influence of time, which changes things from one stage to another, and the living entity, originally being avikāra, or unchangeable, suffers a great deal on account of changes due to the influence of time. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.6.18)



vanipedia.org 		Illicit sex creates pregnancies, and these unwanted pregnancies lead to abortion. Those involved become implicated in these sins, so much so that they are punished in the same way the next life. Thus in the next life they also enter the womb of a mother and are killed in the same way. All these things can be avoided by remaining on the transcendental platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this way one does not commit sinful activity. Illicit sex is the most prominent sin due to lusty desire. When one associates with the mode of passion, he is implicated in suffering life after life. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.14.9)



vanipedia.org 		It is ignorance acquired from time immemorial that is the cause of bodily suffering and distress. As soon as the living entity becomes aloof from the activities of the body, he becomes free from the reactions as well. As long as he is in the city of body, he appears to be the master of it, but actually he is neither its proprietor nor controller of its actions and reactions. He is simply in the midst of the material ocean, struggling for existence. The waves of the ocean are tossing him, and he has no control over them. His best solution is to get out of the water by transcendental Kṛṣṇa consciousness. (Bhagavad-gītā 5.14)



vanipedia.org 		Prahlāda Mahārāja is the topmost example of a Vaiṣṇava, who is always compassionate toward sinful persons suffering a hellish life within this material world. Kṛṣṇa is therefore known as para-duḥkha-duḥkhī kṛpāmbudhiḥ, or one who is compassionate toward others' suffering and who is an ocean of mercy. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.21.47)



vanipedia.org 		The living entity does not suffer due to the body's fatigue. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī gives an example of a child heavily decorated with ornaments; although the child's body is very delicate, he does not feel fatigue, nor do the parents think that his ornaments should be taken away. The living entity has nothing to do with bodily pains and pleasures. These are simply mental concoctions. An intelligent man will find the original cause of everything. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.12.5-6)



vanipedia.org 		Individual material cravings are less harmful to the world than mass movements for sense gratification. If the material desires of an individual are unfulfilled, he certainly becomes depressed, but when the mass of people remain dissatisfied, the distress is much greater and gives rise to social conflict. In any case, mundane yearnings bring suffering, both individual or collective. Even if a person starts out not intending to enjoy the fruits of his actions, once those fruits come he is forced to enjoy them because he thinks of himself as the doer. (Renunciation Through Wisdom, Chapter 5)



vanipedia.org 		By practice, one should avoid eating in such a way that other living entities will be disturbed and suffer. Since I suffer when pinched or killed by others, I should not attempt to pinch or kill any other living entity. People do not know that because of killing innocent animals they themselves will have to suffer severe reactions from material nature. Any country where people indulge in unnecessary killing of animals will have to suffer from wars and pestilence imposed by material nature. Comparing one's own suffering to the suffering of others, therefore, one should be kind to all living entities. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.15.24)



vanipedia.org 		The conditioned jīva suffers from the material disease—the miseries of birth, death, old age and disease. When this suffering becomes unbearable, he looks for help. Those who are less intelligent embrace the path of impersonal liberation and undertake severe austerities to achieve their goal. More elevated than these salvationists are the devotees of the Lord, who realize that their eternal nature is to be His servants. They do not try to extinguish this nature but rather practice and preach the eternal process of devotion so they can enter the Lord's eternal spiritual abode. (Renunciation Through Wisdom, Chapter 4)


Suffering - explore more within this category.

Vanipedia has now over 903 introductory articles compiled from Srila Prabhupada's books under the series titled Essential Subjects. All these articles can be seen in the Table of Content on the right side of this article and also here in this Umbrella Category. Browse through them to relish the breadth and depth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings - There is a subject for everyone.


   
 

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