Who Really Maintains Us? | Understanding Karma and Krishna's Divine Arrangement

Who Really Maintains Us?

A question often arises in my mind: Are we really maintaining ourselves, or is someone else maintaining us?

When we were children, we never worried about earning a living. We spent our days playing, laughing, and enjoying life. Whenever we felt hungry, we would simply go to our mother and ask, "Mom, is there something to eat?" She would immediately bring us something from the kitchen. At that time, we had no anxiety about money or survival.

Now that we have grown up, everything seems different. We constantly worry: If I don't earn, how will I eat? How will I maintain my lifestyle? With these concerns occupying my mind, I used to wake up every morning feeling burdened. I would get ready for work and leave for the office with a heavy heart.

Monday mornings were especially depressing. As the week progressed, I gradually started feeling better because the weekend was getting closer. Friday evenings were the happiest time of the week because I knew the next two days would be holidays. Whenever there was a long weekend, the happiness increased even more.

During the rest of the week, I often spent my office hours waiting for lunchtime and then counting the hours until the end of the workday.

While living with these thoughts, another question repeatedly came to my mind. There are many people who do not go to an office and do not appear to work at all, yet they continue to live. We see such people around us every day and pass them on the streets. Then I would wonder, Who is maintaining them? On whom do they depend?

I had similar thoughts whenever I looked at animals roaming freely on the roads. They also find food and survive, yet they do not work in offices or run businesses. Who is maintaining them?

Whenever I discussed these questions with my family members or other people I knew, they would simply reply, "God maintains everyone." I heard this answer many times, but I could never truly accept or understand it. I could not comprehend how God was maintaining everyone.

Animals never ask such questions because they live in ignorance. Their only concern is finding food.

After studying the scriptures, we learn that Lord Krishna is actually the maintainer of all living beings. But then another question naturally arises: If Krishna is maintaining everyone, why do we go to the office? Why do we run businesses?

Krishna Himself says:

"To those who are constantly devoted to Me and worship Me with love, I provide what they lack and preserve what they have."
— Bhagavad Gita 9.22

This verse assures us that Krishna Himself accepts the responsibility of maintaining His devotees.

When I understood the principle of karma, I finally began to understand this apparent contradiction.

Working in a job, running a business, or performing any other occupation is the result of our past karma. These activities are consequences of our karmic reactions. They are not the actual cause of our maintenance.

Krishna explains:

"All actions are performed by the modes of material nature. But the soul, bewildered by false ego, thinks, 'I am the doer.'"
— Bhagavad Gita 3.27

This verse helps us understand that our occupation is part of the arrangement created by our karma. It is not the real source of our maintenance.

Consider this example. A person earns ₹100,000 every month, but he personally spends only ₹5,000 on his own needs. The remaining ₹95,000 is spent on supporting his family.

What does this tell us?

It means that, according to his karma, he has to perform work that generates ₹100,000. However, his own personal requirement is only ₹5,000. The remaining income is meant for others who depend upon him.

Therefore, when he goes to the office to earn money, that is simply the karma he has to undergo. But the ₹5,000 required for his own maintenance is ultimately being provided by Krishna. The members of his family who depend upon him are not earning that money themselves, yet they are also being maintained.

Who arranged this entire system?

If we sincerely investigate this question, we begin to understand that this management belongs to Krishna. He is the one who maintains everyone.

Krishna says:

"The Supreme Lord resides in the hearts of all living beings, O Arjuna, and directs their wanderings according to their karma, as though they were seated on a machine made of material energy."
— Bhagavad Gita 18.61

The entire arrangement of this world works under His supervision.

One day I observed a simple incident at home that reinforced this understanding.

My wife had several flower pots, some of which had broken. She removed the plants from the broken pots and replanted them in new ones. However, there was one old pot from which she did not remove the plant. She placed it aside and, for many days, did not water it.

Whenever I looked at that plant, I would ask her, "Are you watering this one?"

She would always reply, "No."

Although she was not watering it, the plant did not dry up. During those days, there was occasional rainfall, and the little rain it received was enough to keep it alive.

Watching this, I realized something profound.

My wife was not maintaining that plant, yet it continued to survive.

From this simple observation, I understood that it is Krishna who is truly maintaining it.

This reminded me of Krishna's words:

"It is I who enter the earth and sustain all living beings by My energy, and becoming the moon, I nourish all plants."
— Bhagavad Gita 15.13

Krishna further says:

"Having become the fire of life, I dwell within the bodies of all living beings, and I digest the four kinds of food."
— Bhagavad Gita 15.14

These verses reveal that Krishna not only provides food but also sustains life itself. He nourishes the earth, causes plants to grow, and enables every living being to live.

And if Krishna is maintaining even a neglected plant, how much more carefully must He be maintaining every living being in this world.

Hare Krishna!