A Devotional Take on Mistakes

Sometimes when we commit mistakes, we may become embarrassed, irritated, or enraged with ourselves. If we become excessively disturbed, that often becomes a second mistake. By fretting or seething, we waste the time and energy we could have used for rectification. Certainly we need to learn from our mistakes, but learning requires calmness, which is lost when we let ourselves overreact.

To calm ourselves, we can contemplate how Krishna is always in control and how He is always our benefactor. So He can bring good out of even our mistakes, provided we let Him. That is, provided we keep our calm so that He can give us intelligence to make the best of the situation. Just as an expert musician can produce quality music even with a poor instrument, so too can Krishna produce auspiciousness out of a messy situation.

Krishna Restores Arjuna’s Vision – and Grants the World Vision

On the Kurukshetra battlefield, with the war about to start, Arjuna suddenly got an impulsive desire to see his opponents. So he asked Krishna, acting as his charioteer, to take the chariot between the two armies (Bhagavad-gita 1.21). When Arjuna looked at the opposing forces, he saw his venerable elders, especially his grandsire and his teacher (1.25). Overwhelmed, he lost his will to fight and broke down.

Arjuna’s decision to see his opponents was imprudent, an error of judgment. First, he already knew who were arranged on the opposite side, because both armies had formed their alliances openly, not covertly. Second, even if the Kauravas were planning to pull a hidden ace, competent spies would have warned the Pandavas. Third, Arjuna was well aware of his opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. That had been discussed just the previous night in the Pandavas’ strategy meeting. So there really was nothing for Arjuna to see. Yet he saw, and had to reap the consequences when his vision sabotaged his determination. His perception of the opposing forces changed from dispassionate to sentimental: from “the well-wishers of the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra” (1.23) to “my own kinsmen” (1.31).

Of course, both perceptions were true, but every activity requires us to cultivate the appropriate vision for doing it properly. Letting ourselves see with an alternate vision can be a mistake, especially when it triggers emotions that compromise our performance. For example, if a judge had to adjudicate a case in which his son was the defendant, he would need to adopt the appropriate vision, or in today’s parlance, wear the right cap. He would have to see the person standing in the box as a defendant, not as his son.

Such vision adjustment would undoubtedly be difficult. Most judges would probably recuse themselves, or the government would tell them to do so. But recusing was not an option for Arjuna; he was the foremost fighter in his army, and he couldn’t let down his comrades, who were relying on him to counter the Kauravas’ formidable forces. So, knowing the huge stakes and emotional tensions, Arjuna would have been wiser to resist the urge to see his opponents. Unfortunately, he not only saw his opponents; he also let his eyes and thoughts dwell on his venerable elders, specifically his grandsire and his mentor. And that proved to be emotionally devastating.

Significantly, though Arjuna did commit this mistake, he didn’t compound it. He didn’t let himself get further carried away by his feelings, which were impelling him to give up the fight entirely, even if such pacifism cost him his life (1.45). Instead, he pulled himself together to turn to Krishna for guidance (2.7). He wouldn’t have found it easy to shift from an emotionally wrought state to an intellectually alert state, as was required for hearing the Gita. That he managed such a shift shows that he had already started determinedly on a corrective course.

And Krishna with His trademark expertise brought an immense good out of Arjuna’s mistake. He spoke the timeless wisdom of the Gita – wisdom that not only restored Arjuna’s vision and determination (18.73), but also provided all of humanity for all time to come with a vision of the path to enlightenment.

Saved Through a Mistake

The Mahabharata contains another story that conveys Krishna’s expertise in bringing good out of a devotee’s mistake. When the Pandavas were living in forest exile, they would feed their guests – sages and mendicants – using a mystical plate. This akshaya-patra, or “inexhaustible plate,” would provide food till everyone was fed and finally the hostess, Draupadi, had taken her meal. After she finished, the plate would not supply any more food that day.

Prince Duryodhana knew the plate’s limitation and saw an opportunity to exploit it when the irascible sage Durvasa visited the Kauravas’ palace. The conniving prince personally and attentively served the sage, thereby pleasing him. When offered a benediction, the wily Kaurava beseeched the sage to provide a similar chance for service to his cousins, adding the request that the sage go to them late in the day. Accordingly, Durvasa, along with a large contingent of disciples, arrived at the Pandavas’ forest hermitage in the afternoon. As Draupadi had already taken her meal, the Pandavas had no way to feed so many guests. They felt alarmed because, first, they would be failing in their duty as householders if they didn’t offer proper hospitality to a guest, especially a sage; second, Durvasa was no ordinary sage, but a powerful mystic known to give deadly curses if displeased.

Draupadi’s devotional reflexes sprang into action, and she prayed to Krishna fervently for help. He appeared promptly and told her He was famished. Krishna’s request mortified the already distraught princess; she felt she was failing doubly, unable to serve either the venerable sage or her beloved Lord. For Draupadi, praying to Krishna seemed, temporarily, to have made things worse.

Krishna calmed the distressed princess and told her to check if their mystical plate had any food left. To her surprise, she found a morsel. When she brought it to Krishna, He immediately took it, and after eating it said that He felt completely satisfied. By His supreme mystic power, Krishna arranged that this morsel also fully satisfied all the guests, who had gone to bathe before their meal. Durvasa and his disciples found themselves belching and felt no need for any food. Thus, the Pandavas were saved from danger.

While the thrust of this story is that Krishna protects His devotees and that satisfying Him satisfies everyone else, it conveys another message relevant to our discussion: Krishna’s ability to bring good out of a mistake. The fact that the mystical plate had a food morsel left on it was surprising. Draupadi was a careful housewife who would not have neglected to fully clean the utensils. Moreover, that plate was no ordinary utensil – it was a celestial gift and was vital for the Pandavas to fulfill their householder duty of hospitality. So a morsel of food lying on it was odd. And yet Krishna expertly used that anomaly to both advance His pastime and demonstrate immortal lessons for the world’s edification.

Realizing the Unfailing Nature of Krishna’s Shelter Is Never a Mistake

At a transcendental level, the actions of exalted devotees such as Arjuna and Draupadi can be said to be orchestrated by Krishna Himself for His pleasure. Still, we can simultaneously study these actions at a practical level to learn how we should or should not act. From that perspective, we can see in these pastimes Krishna’s expertise in bringing out good from apparent mistakes as long as the devotees turned to Him for shelter.

So, when we commit mistakes, we can see them as an opportunity, indeed an impetus, to take shelter of Krishna. Of course, it’s better to be careful and avoid committing mistakes – and it’s better still to take shelter of Krishna proactively without being impelled by fear of consequences.

Nonetheless, if we do commit mistakes, we can take shelter of Krishna instead of ranting or moping, activities that characterize the mode of ignorance (Gita 18.28). Even if our mistakes have consequences that can’t be mitigated by taking shelter of Krishna, still we will at least realize that Krishna’s inner shelter – the security we feel on remembering Him – is always available to us, no matter what goes wrong or even what we do wrong. And that realization is a priceless gain, for it deepens our conviction that Krishna’s love for us is indeed unfailing, and thus He is true to His name Acyuta (“unfailing”). The Puranas convey this point through the apt metaphor of the earth.

“O Lord, as the earth is the only shelter for those who slip and fall, You are the only shelter for misguided people.” (Skanda Purana, Kumarika-khanda of the Maheshvara-khanda, 7.101)

Further, with the calmness coming from finding shelter in Krishna, we can intelligently find ways to minimize damage and correct our course. Indeed, one definition of intelligence is to know what to do when we don’t know what to do. Applying that principle, we take shelter of Krishna and seek His guidance. So even if we have unintelligently erred, we can turn to Krishna and thus start reclaiming our intelligence. Whenever we get worked up over a mistake, we can remind ourselves that Krishna’s assurance (18.58) that taking shelter of Him will enable us to cross over all obstacles applies also to the obstacle of our human susceptibility to mistakes.