Prabhupāda Guides His Disciples Through the Difficulties of Spiritual Life
To execute the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the dark age of Kali-yuga is a glorious but incredibly demanding task. Śrīla Prabhupāda never promised his disciples that preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness would be easy or free from material friction. Instead, he equipped them with the philosophical vision to see all hardships—whether external opposition, management struggles, or internal interpersonal conflicts—as the special mercy of the Lord. By facing these difficulties with tolerance and strict adherence to their spiritual vows, his disciples learned to forge unbreakable spiritual strength.
Preaching is Not Easy-Going
The material world is dominated by the modes of passion and ignorance, making the pure message of bhakti-yoga difficult for the general public to swallow. Śrīla Prabhupāda reminded his disciples that historical ācāryas faced intense persecution, and modern preachers must similarly expect resistance. Pushing back against the tide of materialism requires tremendous endurance, often requiring a preacher to sacrifice immense time and energy just to convince a single soul.
- A devotee is pleased when there is difficulty, for in these difficulties he is forced to remember Krsna. We cannot expect that the people of Kali-yuga will welcome our attempt to spread Krsna consciousness.
- The preaching work is not easy-going. There are so many difficulties. All the big, big preachers... Sri Ramanujacarya. His life was attempted to be killed. Why Ramanujacarya? My Guru Maharaja was attempted to be killed.
- You have to spend or waste gallons of blood before you can convert a person to Krsna consciousness. It is so difficult task.
- For the devotees of the Lord there always many difficulties for propagating Krsna Consciousness among the nondevotee demons. But we must learn to tolerate all the difficulties and push on regardless of whatever obstacles we may be presented with.
Seeing Difficulty as Kṛṣṇa's Mercy and Tapasya
A neophyte often blames external circumstances when things go wrong, but an advanced devotee understands that Kṛṣṇa is in absolute control. Śrīla Prabhupāda taught that when a devotee faces severe inconveniences while executing their duties, it is actually Kṛṣṇa placing them in a field of tapasya (austerity). This divine fire burns away their material attachments, purifies their existence, and forces them to take exclusive shelter of the Lord.
- If you are determined in this way to be His devotee, Krishna will provide some happy solution. But even if He puts us into extreme difficulty, we must always be prepared to consider everything as His special Mercy.
- When we are put into difficulties while discharging Krishna Conscious duties, it is to be understood that Krishna puts us in a field of austerities and penances which help us making progress towards realization of our goal of life.
- Without tapasya, nobody can approach Krishna. So preachers who boldly face all kinds of difficulties are considered to be under tapasya, and Krishna takes note of such tapasya of the devotee, and the devotee is recognized by Him.
- Let us forget our past difficulties and in Krishna Consciousness, if anyone faces difficulties, it is considered as blessings, because without tapasya, or voluntarily accepting some inconveniences, nobody can realize the Transcendence.
Tolerating Interpersonal Differences
Whenever people live and work closely together, friction and disagreements are inevitable. Within the society of devotees, Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasized the absolute necessity of kṣamā, or forgiveness. He instructed his disciples never to become so agitated by the faults of others that they abandon the association of devotees, reminding them that seeing faults in others is often a reflection of one's own lack of spiritual advancement.
- I know you are always experiencing difficulties in living with devotees, but we must be tolerant and endure the personal differences, being humbler than a blade of grass, and stick to our duties to the spiritual master.
- In our dealings, there are so many faulty dealings between ourselves. So if we take everything very seriously, then it is very difficult to live. So ksama means forgiveness - will reduce.
- Simply by changing my status of occupation or my status of life, that will not help anything. Because the real fact is that if there is any difficulty with others, that is my lack of Krsna consciousness, not theirs. Is this clear?
- Do not let yourself fall out of this association. Even if it is very difficult and there may be many problems or disagreements still simply by remaining in the association of devotees and follow our regulative principles, chanting 16 rounds, rising early.
The Solution: Chanting and Regulative Principles
There is no material solution to a material problem. Śrīla Prabhupāda explained that all difficulties essentially arise from forgetting one's eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa. The direct, perfect cure for all obstacles—whether mental agitation or management crises—is to stubbornly stick to the daily chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and the strict observance of the four regulative principles.
- Hare Krishna Mantra will clear away all of the difficulties that you have mentioned. Actually, as pure spirit soul, there is no difficulty; the cause of all problems is that we are forgetful of the fact that we are part and parcel of Krishna.
- If everyone is strictly chanting at least 16 rounds daily and reading the books and observing the regulative principles then management will be at our finger's end, and there will be no difficulty in maintaining Krsna Consciousness.
- Even if there may be some problems, always try to remain in Krishna Consciousness. Do not give up chanting the Hare Krishna mantra simply due to some external difficulties.
- You must follow the principles that I have given at all times, under all circumstances. Without these four principles, there is no spiritual life. Even it may be very difficult you must follow.
Leadership and Enthusiasm in Adversity
A general is tested not in times of peace, but in the heat of battle. Śrīla Prabhupāda demanded that those who took leading posts within the society remain steadfast and enthusiastic, refusing to abandon their duties simply because the circumstances became difficult. True devotion is demonstrated by the willingness to sacrifice personal comfort and tolerate any hardship to please the spiritual master and push on the movement.
- Enthusiasm and patience, these things required. If under changing conditions, I lose my enthusiasm, if I cannot endure the difficulties of my duty, therefore I go away. Then how I can be leader?
- From now on if someone takes the leading post, he must agree to stick and not go away just because it is difficult from time to time. That is ideal leader.
- That is the sign of the first-class devotee, that he is always willing to sacrifice everything to please Krishna by preaching His glories, even under all sorts of difficult conditions. I am very encouraged by your attitude of sincere Krishna Consciousness.
- Work very nicely to encourage Abhirama and the others to very enthusiastically carry on our program there in Miami, even though there may be so many difficulties.
Conclusion
Difficulties are an inseparable feature of the material world, but for a sincere disciple, they are stepping stones to spiritual perfection. By instructing his followers to abandon the bodily concept of life, tolerate interpersonal differences, and view every hardship as Kṛṣṇa's loving austerity, Śrīla Prabhupāda cultivated a society of fearless preachers. Armed with the holy names and the regulative principles, they proved that no amount of difficulty can stop the absolute progress of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
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 Our Difficulties (Disciples of SP). We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.