Radhanath Swami: “Never Give Up”

“One thing we have noticed in our many years of practicing Bhakti—as long as you don’t give up you are never defeated.”- Radhanath Swami

In any Bhakti project we may lose terribly so many battles. If we give up we lose the war. However much all odds are against us, if we just don’t give up, if we just keep struggling and fighting for Krishna, then it is guaranteed the war will be won, because the power of Krishna is absolute.

We can see examples that are given in Srimad Bhagavatam. Krishna put the Pandavas in such a difficult situation—to show their glories. Krishna put Prahalad Maharaj in such difficult situations: one day he’s laying in a bed of poisonous serpents, another day he’s put under the sea with a mountain on top of him, and another day he’s placed in blazing fires. But he didn’t give up, and so the next day he’s sitting on the throne of Hiranyakashipu ruling the dynasty.

When Srila Prabhupada was in Bowery, everything was going against him. He had no assistance, no money, nothing. He just had a little Indian typewriter he was trying to type his translations and the typewriter was stolen; he was kicked out of his house, and he had nowhere to go. It’s cold and everybody in India was saying, “Swamiji, come back. It’s impossible.” He didn’t give up. His guru maharaj, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityanand Prabhu, they wanted this movement to spread all over the world, and he was determined, “I must do it.” From the unknown beggar on the streets of New York he became world acharya. This is the example. We’re in this sampradaya, so Krishna is going to give us the best mercy.

–Radhanath Swami