Many times, devotees ask, “Why is Krishna not hearing my prayers? I am trying so hard to pray!”
How long should we pray before Krishna answers?
The Multitude of Cravings
Firstly, we must understand that after countless lifetimes, we have received the rare opportunity to practice Krishna consciousness.
But before coming to Krishna consciousness, how often did we truly pray for His mercy? Instead, we have always been praying—thousands of times daily—for sense gratification. If we assume an average of 50 desires per day (which is far less) and consider that we prayed for them over 10 years, that amounts to approximately 1,80,000 prayers in a single lifetime. And this is only one of our innumerable lifetimes in this material world! If we go with this calculation for 1000 lifetimes (which is again far less than what we have spent in the material world), it would amount to 180 million prayers! (We may call it desires, and not prayers, yet, every single desire is noted by Krishna, and is fulfilled by prakrti, or the material nature.)
Even now as aspiring devotees, we may chant na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ in the morning, yet throughout the day, our hearts may crave wealth, followers, and beauty. So how can we expect Krishna to hear and respond to our prayers instantly?
We need depth both in our intensity and our quantity.
Drowning Desires by Multitude of Prayers
A Vaishnava song beautifully expresses this point:
hari he doyāl mor jaya rādhā-nāth
bāro bāro ei-bāro loho nija sāth
O Hari! O my merciful Lord! All glories to You, O Lord of Radha! Again and again I have pleaded with You, and now I beg You yet again to accept me as Your own.
Here, the devotee begs not just once or twice, but repeatedly for Krishna’s grace.
We must develop an urge to go beyond a mechanical practice of Krishna consciousness. If our chanting, association, and service become routine and devoid of heartfelt longing, how can we expect Krishna to take our prayers seriously?
– Rukmini Devi was willing to undergo thousands of lifetimes of austerities to attain Krishna.
– Mukunda Datta was ready to wait for a million lifetimes before receiving Lord Chaitanya’s mercy.
– The milk-drinking brahmacari persistently petitioned Srivasa Thakura for many days before being allowed to enter Lord Caitanya’s night kirtanas.
Even If we wish to equate the number of prayers of sincere devotion we wish to offer to Krishna with our desires of sensual gratification, it will take a million lifetimes. However, Krishna’s causeless mercy enables the distance of a million lifetimes to be reduced to one lifetime, similar to a vast ocean being reduced to the size of a hoofprint of a calf.
PUSH – Pray Until Something Happens
Therefore, we must keep praying until something happens—and even after something happens, we should continue to pray until something more happens.
When Krishna sees that our eagerness to attain His grace surpasses our desire for gratification, He will surely bestow His mercy upon us.
Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda prays:
viṣaye je prīti ebe āchaye āmār
sei-mata prīti hauk caraṇe tomār
Let me love Your lotus feet as much as I now love sense gratification; transfer my affection from the objects of the senses to Your lotus feet.
A prayerful attitude and practice alone can impel Krishna to award us with His love, obtaining which we will find the fulfillment of all desires.
