We live life based on hopes and expectations. After coming in devotional service as well, we have a certain set of expectations. We desire a certain amount of pleasure from the spiritual activities we perform.

In due course of time, if we lead our spiritual life based on expectations, and the results don’t come, then we may feel frustrated, depressed and demotivated. In order for that to not happen, we need to be extremely clear in what we must expect from Krishna or the practice of bhakti, and what we must not. If expectations are set right, then we don’t get side-tracked. If expectations are clear, we can happily continue our practice of devotional service.

Of the many things, we have mentioned two things that one should NOT expect, and two things that I must expect.

What NOT to EXPECT:

1] Quick RESULTS:

HH Radhanatha Maharaja says, “If we expect quick results in bhakti, that means we are taking the process of devotional service to be granted.”

We won’t reach through the ladder of sraddha to prema overnight. Even to become an engineer or doctor, it takes 21 years. It is not just a 4-year thing! Even for a sleeping lion, a deer doesn’t just come and enter his mouth. He has to work hard for every meal.
udyamena hi sidhyanti kāryāṇi na manorathaiḥ |
nahi suptasya siṃhasya praviśanti mukhe mṛgāḥ

2] God (or devotees) should become my order supplier!

Recently, a student challenged me, “I have done so much for Krishna, what has Krishna done for me?” Krishna’s reciprocation may not be always visible, and Krishna’s reciprocation may not be always understandable. Krishna may give in return in a different currency than what we may expect.

And secondly, Krishna may not always fulfill our every desire. Rather than we dancing on the orders of guru and Krishna, we sometimes want Krishna, guru and devotees to dance on our desires!!

We may expect our dearest ones to gift us something valuable on our birthdays, we may expect devotees to treat us in a friendly manner all the time, we may expect Krishna to arrange the best possible situations for us each time, but all of this may only increase our frustrations.

If our focus is on giving, we automatically receive a lot. If our focus becomes receiving, it is never enough. We can’t ever get enough respect, enough adoration from this world. The world is incapable of offering us the same. But when we serve Krishna and devotees whole heartedly, there is no match to what we can get out of the same.

What to EXPECT:

1] Purification:

Purification is a part of Krishna’s plan to make us eligible to go back to Godhead. When things don’t go our way, we understand that Krishna, and not we are in control.

We see that some tests came for each and every devotee whose name appears in Srimad Bhagavatam. For instance, Pariksit Maharaja was faced with the test of getting cursed to die in seven days, and that too from a five year old boy. Prahlada Maharaja was faced with tremendous challenges as his own father was devising various means to kill him.

A sadhaka means one who expects purification at every stage. Not that we remain in the fear of what lies ahead, but we must know for certain that in this material world, problems are inevitable. And for a devotee, those problems or difficulties, when taken in the right perspective, can help one come closer to Krishna.

A sadhaka therefore needs to be extremely patient in his or her spiritual life. Brahmaji says that one who regards the difficulties and the reversals that come in life as Lord’s mercy, he alone is qualified to go back home, back to Godhead.

2] Krishna’s Mercy:

In spite of the purification going on, a devotee always is expectant of Krishna’s mercy – ashabandha. Krishna is watching each and every step of the devotee. And at regular intervals, He is granting us grace. Actually, the purification is also one form of Krishna’s mercy enabling us to surrender to Him. Also, Krishna’s mercy is always superior to our own fallen condition. There can be no situation where a devotee must consider himself or herself hopeless.

Krishna’s grace may come in any or more of the following ways:

1] Through any situation helping us surrender. Eg: Pariksit Maharaja renouncing and surrendering everything at a moment’s notice when he got cursed. He took the curse as Krishna’s mercy.

A situation that helps us understand our own fallen position is also Krishna’s mercy as it helps us go closer to Him.

2] Through a devotee. Eg: Dhruva got the help of Narada Muni in executing his worship of the Supreme Lord to fulfill his desire.

Actually, whenever we get an opportunity to take the association of Krishna’s devotees, that is Krishna’s grace.

3] Increased Taste while performing devotional service: Eg: Narada Muni says about his own practice in SB 1.5.26 – “As I listened attentively from those great sages, my taste for hearing of the Personality of Godhead increased at every step.”

4] Reduction of material desires. Eg: Lord Caitanya says to Raghunath Dasa Goswami that Krishna has been merciful on you to take you out of the dark pit of worldly desires.

5] Absence of Pride: If someone possesses a lot of good qualities but still remains devoid of pride, that is Lord’s grace upon that devotee. (Ref: SB 8.22.26)

Krishna’s grace may come in even other forms which may not be perceivable by our mundane mind and senses at that particular moment, but we may realize them years later.

A devotee should always look forward for Lord’s mercy, and at the same time, not be expectant to receive that mercy in a way and manner that he or she wants. Grace means to get what we do not deserve. Whatever comes from the Supreme Lord is grace. When grace fills our life, we become freed of the endless tribulations and anxieties of this world.

Srila Rupa Goswami says,
pracīnānāḿ bhajanam atulaḿ duṣkaraḿ śṛṇvato me
nairyāsena jvalati hṛdayaḿ bhakti-leśālasasya
viśva-drīcīm aghahara tavākarṇya kāruṇya-vīcīm
āśā-bindūkṣitam idam upety antare hanta śaityam
I am very weak and lazy to do even the smallest devotional service and so when I hear of the peerless and difficult-to-perform services performed by the great devotees in ancient times, my heart burns with despair. O Lord, O killer of Aghasura, when I hear that Your waves of mercy splash everyone from the demigod Brahma down to the most insignificant creature, then my heart becomes sprinkled with a cooling drop of hope.