difficulties / reverses / distress
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Imported quote 12911 As usual, a devotee in an adverse condition of life accepts such a condition to be the mercy of the Lord. Factually, the insulting words used by Daksa against Lord Siva were enough to have him thrown perpetually into a hellish life. But Lord Siva, being kind toward him, awarded him punishment to neutralize the offense. King Daksa realized this, and, feeling obliged for Lord Siva's magnanimous behavior, he wanted to show his gratitude to him. Sometimes a father punishes his child, and when the child is grown up and comes to his senses, he understands that the father's punishment was not actually punishment but mercy. Similarly, Daksa appreciated that the punishment offered to him by Lord Siva was a manifestation of his mercy. That is the symptom of a person making progress on the path of Krsna consciousness. It is said that a devotee in Krsna consciousness never takes any miserable condition of life to be condemnation by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He accepts the miserable condition to be the grace of the Lord. He thinks, "I would have been punished or put into a more dangerous condition of life due to my past misdeeds, but the Lord has protected me. Thus I have received only a little punishment as token execution of the law of karma." Thinking of His grace in that way, a devotee always surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead more and more seriously and is not disturbed by such so-called punishment.
(More...) Imported quote 20726 You are a very good girl and a sincere devotee therefore, even though you have experienced difficulty you are remaining pure in Krsna Consciousness and keeping faith in Krsna and the spiritual master. This faithfulness has pleased me very much. So many great devotees have had to undergo difficulties, and the great example among women was Queen Kunti whose family life was perpetual danger, but because she always thought of Krsna she was saved.
(More...) My dear Govinda, Your promise is that Your devotee can never be vanquished. I believe in that statement, and therefore in all kinds of tribulations I simply remember Your promise, and thus I live. In the Mahabharata, Draupadi says, "My dear Govinda, Your promise is that Your devotee can never be vanquished. I believe in that statement, and therefore in all kinds of tribulations I simply remember Your promise, and thus I live." The purport is that Draupadi and her five husbands, the Panḍavas, were put into severe tribulations by their cousin-brother, Duryodhana, as well as by others. The tribulations were so severe that even Bhismadeva, who was both a lifelong brahmacari and a great warrior, would sometimes shed tears thinking of them. He was always surprised that, although the Panḍavas were so righteous and Draupadi practically the goddess of fortune, and although Krsna was their friend, still they had to undergo such severe tribulations. Though their tribulations were not ordinary, still Draupadi was not discouraged. She knew that because Krsna was their friend, ultimately they would be saved.
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