Will Krishna Help and Protect His Devotees Facing Problems?

Yes, indeed. Our greatest problem is being separated from Krishna, the ocean of joy. This separation brings us endless cycles of birth, death, old age, and disease. If we take one step towards Krishna, expressing our eagerness, 'O Krishna, I want to love and serve You. Please protect this fallen soul drowning in the ocean of samsara and place me under the cooling shade of Your lotus feet,' Krishna will indeed protect us. Did He not protect Draupadi, Prahlada, Gajendra, and the Gopis?

How Will Krishna Come to Protect Us?

Let us hear what Sri Vyasadeva states: 'tamasi ravir ivodyan-majjatām aplavānā. plava iva titānā svādu-vasīva megha. nidhir iva nidhanānā tīvra-dukhāmayānā. bhiag iva kuala no dātum āyāti auri.' He will come like the early morning sun, dissipating the darkness, like a boat rescuing a drowning person, like a sweet raincloud saving one dying of thirst, like a great treasure for a penniless person, like an experienced doctor for a seriously ill patient. Thus, Lord Rī Ka-candra will come to protect us."

It is certain that Krishna always helps and protects His true devotees. However, that will not always happen in the way we expect or desire. Sometimes, despite praying to Him for help, we feel that nothing changes. But we often overlook the fact that the Lord is actually protecting us by allowing certain difficulties in our lives.

Why Does Krishna Protect Us Through Difficulties?

The Lord is powerful enough to burn all our karma in an instant, but He does not do so easily, even for His devotees. He does this to make us learn certain life lessons, such as patience, humility, and to intensify our devotion and help us surrender totally to Him. The greatest devotees of the Lord suffered the most in their lives. Seeing this, some question whether the Lord is merciful. In fact, the Lord is extremely compassionate towards His devotees. This samsara is a dangerous place, and we do not realize it. We see people dying around us and contracting deadly diseases, but we think it doesn't happen to us—only to others. This Maya or false reality makes us waste this precious human life in temporary pleasures and idle talk, and thus death comes quietly and swiftly.

Role of Bhagavan in Ensuring Freedom from Samsara

Bhagavan's duty is to ensure that whoever has surrendered to Him will be freed from the cycle of birth and death. Only those who have realized the goal of life will be freed from this endless cycle. The rest will be cast into wombs for another birth in this world of misery.

It is human nature to waste this precious birth through temporary pleasures. Look around, and you find many examples of people destroying their lives through smoking, drinking, drug use, overeating, etc. Bhagavan cannot allow His devotee to irresponsibly walk into this path of pleasures and degrade spiritually. Therefore, the Lord permits suffering in His devotees' lives so that they may become totally disgusted with this material world and increase their desire for liberation.

A good mother disciplines her child to study well, pass exams, and have no regrets in the future. Similarly, Lord Krishna permits suffering in His devotees' lives so that fear of suffering motivates them to 'study the nature of this miserable world' and create a longing to get freed from the cycle of births and deaths, finally not having any regrets about wasting this human form.

In conclusion, sufferings are blessings in disguise for a true devotee. Though He may not be aware of it always, the Lord is using suffering to protect them. If you face problems and pray to Krishna, He will be there, just as the early morning sun, the boat in the storm, and the sweet raincloud in the drought. Embrace these trials as lessons and blessings, for they are indeed part of His plan to guide you closer to Him and achieve eternal joy.