The poet Thomas Tusser composed these lines, which were then shortened to simply “April showers bring May flowers”.
In the Western world, the gentle arrival of May is welcomed with joy. April showers, as the saying goes, bring forth May flowers—soft rains give way to vibrant meadows, and nature seems to sing in celebration of renewal.
As I am writing this editorial, it is April, and just yesterday, a youngster complained about the scorching heat in Mumbai. The month of May brings no such delight in India. The sun blazes relentlessly, turning days into an ordeal of heat and discomfort. What brings pleasure to one land becomes a burden in another. This is the harsh reality of the material world: one person’s food is another’s poison.
The very seasons that delight some hearts torment others, revealing how fleeting and contradictory all material happiness truly is.
Sri Krishna explains this wisely in the Bhagavad-gita. He tells Arjuna: “O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed” (Bhagavad-gita 2.14).
Just as the seasons come and go, so do the dualities of pleasure and pain. Nothing in this material world is permanent, and no external condition can satisfy every heart at once.
But Krishna does not leave us to struggle alone. He lovingly instructs every sincere seeker to train the mind and rise above these changing external conditions. He assures us: “O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation” (Bhagavad-gita 2.15).
Further, the Lord glorifies the yogi who has conquered the mind : “One who remains equipoised in heat and cold, joy and sorrow, honour and dishonour, is truly peaceful in devotion to the Supreme (Bhagavad-gita 6.7)”.
By fixing our consciousness firmly on Sri Krishna through devotional service and the chanting of His holy names, we can remain equipoised no matter how fiercely the sun burns or how sweetly the flowers bloom. In His loving service, the mind becomes peaceful, the soul becomes joyful, and the temporary ups and downs of this world lose their power to disturb us.
And yet in Vrindavan dhama, these dualities are no cause for any disturbances. Here, because of the personal presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the seasons do not clash or cause suffering—they lovingly cooperate with His divine will, serving only to increase His pleasure and the pleasure of His devotees.
In the blooming vasanta (spring) season, fragrant flowers carpet the forests as Krishna enjoys the enchanting vasanti-rasa, playing His flute amidst singing cuckoos and dancing peacocks, decorating the gopis with fresh blossoms in flower-filled bowers. During the blazing grisma (summer), the Yamuna’s waters remain miraculously cool for His joyful water sports (salila-vihara) with the gopis and cowherd boys, who fan Him with lotus leaves under the shade of kadamba trees. When the varsa (monsoon) rains arrive with thunder and lightning, dark clouds mirroring Krishna’s complexion, He dances with the gopis as peacocks rejoice, turning the downpour into an intimate festival of love. In the clear, moonlit sarad (autumn), the famous saradiya rasa-lila unfolds on the banks of the Yamuna—Krishna expands Himself to dance simultaneously with each gopi throughout a divine night that feels like a single moment of pure ecstasy. The gentler hemanta and sisira (pre-winter and winter) bring cozy, intimate gatherings in forest bowers, where the gopis offer warm milk and sweets, and every chill becomes an opportunity for closer, affectionate service at Krishna’s lotus feet.
This is the sublime invitation of Krishna consciousness! We need not wait for favorable seasons or perfect external conditions to taste real happiness. Whether we find ourselves amidst May flowers or under the blazing Indian sun, the path is the same: surrender our hearts fully to Sri Krishna, chant His holy names with devotion—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
—Syamananda Dasa