Modes of Nature; Prayers

Summary:  Sometimes we may feel despondent that our material conditioning is an impediment to our devotional service. Kaliya’s prayer to Lord Krsna gives us inspiration to continue despite whatever our material conditioning might be.

Reading Assignment

“With folded hands, he (Kaliya) humbly began to pray to the Supreme Lord Krsna: ‘My dear Lord, I have been born in such a species that by nature I am angry and envious, being in the darkest region of the mode of ignorance. Your Lordship knows well that it is very difficult to give up one's natural instincts, although by such instincts the living creature transmigrates from one body to another.’
It is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita that it is very difficult to get out of the clutches of material nature, but if anyone surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, the modes of material nature can no longer act on him.
‘My dear Lord,’ Kaliya continued, ‘You are the original creator of the modes of material nature, by which the universe is created. You are the cause of the different kinds of mentality possessed by living creatures, by which they have obtained different varieties of bodies. My dear Lord, I am born as a serpent; therefore, by natural instinct I am very angry. How is it then possible to give up my acquired nature without Your mercy? It is very difficult to get out of the clutches of Your maya. By Your maya we remain
enslaved. My dear Lord, kindly excuse me for my inevitable material tendencies. I surrender unto You. Now You can punish me or save me, as You desire.’"
Krsna Book, chap 16