That Is Your Fault - Why We Suffer
A common human tendency is to look for external causes for our suffering. We blame the government, the economy, our family, or even God. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda delivers a sobering truth: the responsibility for our condition lies entirely with us. The Supreme Lord has provided everything—perfect knowledge, abundant resources, and the path to liberation. If we fail to take advantage of these facilities, the verdict is simple: "That is your fault."
The Misuse of Independence
The root cause of our presence in the material world is the misuse of our minute independence. God created us to be happy and to serve Him in love. However, love requires the freedom to choose. When we use that freedom to choose sense gratification over service, we fall into the cycle of birth and death. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that God does not force us; He allows us to exercise our will. If we use that will to violate the laws of God, we must suffer the consequences.
- God created you to become happy. He's happy. You are part and parcel of Krsna. You should be happy. But you don't accept the way of happiness. That is your fault.
- If you violate the orders of God, then you suffer. You are perfect because you have got independence, but you misuse that perfectness. That is your fault. You perfect. You become imperfect by misusing.
- God says that, "You become devotee of Me." You do not become. That is your fault.
Ignoring the Physician
Śrīla Prabhupāda often uses the analogy of a doctor and a patient. The spiritual master is the physician who diagnoses the disease of material existence and prescribes the cure: chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and following the four regulative principles. If the patient ignores the doctor's warning—for example, entering an area infected with smallpox—and contracts the disease, the doctor cannot be blamed. Similarly, if we ignore the instructions of the spiritual master and the scriptures, our continued suffering is our own doing.
- Doctor's duty is to warn you not to go to that area, "It is now infected with smallpox." But in spite of doctor's instruction, if you go there and if you infect that disease and suffer, then it is your fault.
- Just like I say: "Chant sixteen rounds." If you do not do it, what can I do? That is your fault.
- If you fall from the instruction, how you can remain eternal? You have to stay on the platform. Then eternally you are safe. If you fall down from the platform, then it is your fault.
Choosing the Wrong Association
We are shaped by our association. The scriptures advise, tyaja durjana-saṁsargam bhaja sādhu-samāgamam: "Give up the association of rascals and associate with saintly persons." If we choose to associate with those in the mode of ignorance, or if we accept a bogus guru who cheats us, it is because we ourselves want to be cheated. We must have the intelligence to discriminate between a real physician and a quack.
- Canakya Pandita said, tyaja durjana-samsargam bhaja sadhu-samagamam: "Give up all rascals. Associate with sadhus." If you do not do that, that is your fault.
- If you associate with the tamo-guna, then you become lower-class man, animals. That is your fault. It is not Krsna's fault.
- If you go to a person who does not know God, that is your fault. If you go to a physician who is not actually physician, a store-keeper, then that is your fault. You must have the intelligence who is a physician.
Neglect of Available Knowledge
Ignorance is no excuse when knowledge is readily available. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that in almost every home in India, and increasingly in the West, there is a copy of the Bhagavad-gītā. Yet, people do not study it. They prefer to listen to mental speculators like Darwin rather than the eternal authority of the Vedas. This willful neglect of spiritual knowledge is the primary reason for humanity's confusion.
- I think every home has got a Bhagavad-gita. But you do not study; you neglect it. That is your fault.
- The knowledge is there. University is there. You can go, pass your M.A. examination. But if you go to the prison house and become a pickpocket, that is your fault.
- You simply hear from Darwin. You have taken Darwin as your authority. But you don't take authority Vedas. That is your fault.
Conclusion
The world is not suffering from a lack of God's mercy; it is suffering from a lack of human reception. The sunshine is open to everyone, but if we close our doors and sit in darkness, we cannot blame the sun. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the open secret to success in life. If we refuse to accept it, preferring our own manufactured ways, we must accept the responsibility for our continued suffering.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category That Is Your Fault. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.