By Kundali Dasa
Originally published May 1, 1986 | source : https://www.backtogodhead.in/karma-and-the-origin-of-evil-by-kundali-dasa/
Can God Be All-Good and Still Allow Evil?
Once upon a time, a man, having turned from a sinful life, asked a saint how he could live in a way pleasing to God. The saint replied, “Be like your Father in heaven.” But the man misunderstood—he imitated God’s cosmic acts without understanding His divine wisdom. The results were disastrous. The saint, horrified, refused to speak to him again.
This satirical tale, originally penned by Mark Twain in Letters from the Earth, critiques a major tension in Western religion: How can an all-loving, all-powerful God allow evil and suffering in the world? Twain’s conclusion: if God exists, He can’t possibly be the benevolent, omnipotent being that religions claim.
Like Twain, I once struggled with this very issue.
My Journey Through Doubt
I vividly remember the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I was just nine years old, living in the Caribbean. The President had saved us from the threat of communism, and now he was gone. The injustice shook me.
As I grew, so did my awareness of evil. I wondered: What kind of God lets war, racism, disease, and death run rampant? Worse still, how could He let good, God-fearing people suffer?
The Christian answers I received as a child—eternal heaven for the faithful, eternal hell for others—only raised more questions. How could a just God damn souls forever? By age fifteen, I had grown disillusioned with religion and declared myself an atheist. If evil existed and God didn’t prevent it, I reasoned, then there either was no God or He wasn’t worth worshipping.
Looking Beyond Western Thought
My story is not unique. Rabbi Harold Kushner’s bestselling book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, resonated with thousands. His answer? God is good—but not all-powerful. He’s doing His best.
While comforting to some, this solution creates new problems. If God isn’t omnipotent, why believe He’s all-good? If we keep redefining God to avoid discomfort, don’t we eventually risk denying Him altogether?
A truly satisfying solution must meet three essential criteria:
- God is all-powerful.
- God is all-good and just.
- God created a world where evil exists.
We can’t just explain away evil—we need a framework that makes sense both philosophically and practically.
The Vedic Perspective: Karma and Rebirth
I found such a framework in Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, the ancient spiritual text spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa teaches that suffering is not meaningless. It’s the result of karma—the law of action and reaction. Every soul, through countless lifetimes, reaps what they sow. Whether good or bad, our current life circumstances reflect our past actions.
Unlike the Western model, which posits a single life followed by eternal judgment, the Gītā presents a just and merciful system where souls evolve over many lives. Each life is a chance to learn, grow, and ultimately return to our original spiritual nature.
Why Don’t We Remember Our Past Lives?
One common objection to karma is, “If we’re suffering for past lives, why can’t we remember them?”
But even in this life, we forget much of our early childhood. Memory isn’t the only marker of experience. Just as trauma shapes behavior even when it’s forgotten, so too do our past lives shape our present nature.
What About Heredity?
Some argue that genetics alone explain our character and fate. But karma accounts for far more: why geniuses are born into humble families, or why immoral people are born into virtuous ones. Karma and heredity are not mutually exclusive—they work together. The soul is placed into a family where it can reap the fruits of its past actions and continue evolving.
The Gītā’s Revolutionary Insight on Evil
Kṛṣṇa explains that suffering, though painful, has a purpose: it breaks our illusion that material life can make us happy. It pushes us to seek spiritual fulfillment.
“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.”
— Bhagavad-gītā 18.66
This is Kṛṣṇa’s ultimate promise. Once we return to Him, we escape the cycle of birth and death—and with it, all suffering.
The Spiritual World: A Place Beyond Evil
The Gītā and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describe a spiritual realm full of color, joy, and variety—not a dull heaven, but a vibrant spiritual universe. There, Kṛṣṇa lives eternally with His devotees in loving relationships, free from pain, envy, and death.
In this light, evil serves a purpose: to awaken us to our true home.
Why This Changed Everything for Me
Once I understood karma and rebirth through Kṛṣṇa’s teachings, I could no longer call myself an atheist. I saw a system where justice is perfect, mercy is abundant, and every soul is loved.
Suffering is not proof of God’s cruelty—it’s proof of His intelligence. He gives us exactly what we need to grow, again and again, until we’re ready to return to Him.
A Final Word
People like Sue—who lost her mother to cancer as a child—or those horrified by atrocities like the Holocaust, often give up on God. But the Vedic view doesn’t demand blind faith. It offers a rational, compassionate, and empowering explanation for the darkest realities of life.
To anyone struggling with the problem of evil, I offer this: Read the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Let Kṛṣṇa speak for Himself. The answers are there.
“For the soul there is neither birth nor death… He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval.”
— Bhagavad-gītā 2.20
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