We do not ask or pray for catastrophes, yet they come without invitation. Similarly, whatever happiness is there for our enjoyment will also come without our asking for it.

What is worth praying for?

Forget happiness and distress; endeavor instead to know Krishna

An intelligent person should try to attain shelter at the lotus feet of Krishna. Human life is actually meant for getting in touch with the lotus feet of Krishna. That should be our only business. The word upari indicates the higher planetary systems. There are seven higher planetary systems, and we are in the middle system, in Bhurloka. Within this one universe, there are fourteen planetary systems, and the living entities are wandering in different bodily forms on different planets. According to karma, the living entity sometimes goes up and sometimes goes down. He wanders in this way, thinking how he can become materially happy and satisfy his senses. The shastras say that we should not do this, that we should endeavor to understand Krishna. We should not worry about eating and sleeping, for the needs of the body are already arranged. We do not have to work independently to maintain the body.

tal labhyate duhkhavad anyatah sukham
kalena sarvatra gabhira-ramhasa

Our actual endeavor should be to attain happiness; that is our real struggle for existence. According to the shastras: tal labhyate duhkhavat. The word duhkhavat indicates that although we do not want misery, misery comes anyway. We don't have to endeavor separately for misery. No one says, "Let there be a fire in my house" or "Let my child die." No one aspires after these things, yet they happen. Everyone is thinking, "May my child live happily" or "May I get so much money." We do not ask or pray for catastrophes, yet they come without invitation. Similarly, whatever happiness is there for our enjoyment will also come without our asking for it. The conclusion is that we should not endeavor for so-called happiness or distress, but should try to attain that position whereby we can understand Krishna and get shelter at His lotus feet. This should be the real human endeavor.

It was Caitanya Mahaprabhu who said to Rupa Gosvami:

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krishna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"The living entity is wandering up and down, from one planet to another, and he is very fortunate if by the mercy of the spiritual master and Krishna Himself he can get the seed of devotional service to Krishna." (Chaitanya-charitamrita Madhya 19.151)

The Krishna consciousness movement is an attempt to make people fortunate. In this age, everyone is unfortunate (manda-bhagyah), but now we are trying to reverse the situation.

Throughout the world there are problems everywhere. One country has one type of problem, and another country has another. There is strife within governments themselves, and even presidents are fraught with problems. Sometimes we may think we are very fortunate, just as President Nixon was thinking, "I am very fortunate. I have become the president of the United States." Then he soon realized that he was most unfortunate. Actually this is the situation for everyone. We should not think that the only apprehended culprit is President Nixon and that we are safe. There is a Bengali proverb: Dry cow dung is used for fuel, and it is said that when the dry cow dung is being burned, the soft cow dung is laughing, saying, "Oh, you are being burned, but I am safe." It does not know that when it dries out, it will be thrown into the fire too. We may laugh because President Nixon is in trouble, and we may think ourselves very safe because we have a big bank balance, but actually no one is safe. Eventually everyone will dry up and be thrown in the fire. That is a fact. We may survive for a few years, but we cannot avoid death. In fact, it is said, "As sure as death." And what is the result of death? One loses everything—all honor, money, position and material life itself. Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita (10.34), mrityuh sarva-harash chaham: "I am all-devouring death." Krishna comes as death and plunders everything—bank balance, skyscrapers, wife, children and whatever. One cannot say, "My dear death, please give me some time to adjust." There is no adjustment; one must immediately get out.

Foolish people are unaware of the miserable conditions of material life. Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita (13.9), janma-mrityu jara-vyadhi-duhkha-doshanudarshanam. Real knowledge means knowing that however great one may be, the four principles of material life are present: birth, old age, disease and death. These exist in the highest planetary system (Brahmaloka) and in the lowest (Patalaloka).

tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovido
na labhyate yad bhramatam upary adhah
tal labhyate duhkhavad anyatah sukham
kalena sarvatra gabhira-ramhasa

"Persons who are actually intelligent and philosophically inclined should endeavor only for that purposeful end which is not obtainable even by wandering from the topmost planet down to the lowest planet. As far as happiness derived from sense enjoyment is concerned, it can be obtained automatically in course of time, just as in course of time we obtain miseries even though we do not desire them." (SB 1.5.18)

When Dharmaraja asked Maharaja Yudhishthira what the most wonderful thing in the world was, Maharaja Yudhishthira replied: ahany ahani bhutani gacchantiha yamalayam. "Every moment people are dying, but those who are living are thinking, 'My friend has died, but I shall live forever.' " (Mahabharata, Vana-parva 313.116) Soft cow dung thinks the same way. This is typical of conditioned beings.