Why Did Arjuna, Who was So Close to God, Get a Degraded Life in His Next Birth?

[Shri Anil Antony asked: You say that Arjuna was degraded in the next birth. But, he was very close to God. How is this possible?]

Swami replied: Mere closeness to God does not give the top result. The son of a professor may be a student in his class and this does not mean that the son should pass in first class. Even the son of Lord Krishna, called Samba mocked the sages and became responsible to the genocide of the all the Yadava family. The result is based on the firmness in faith and intensity in devotion, which are responsible for the excellent practical service that gives the final fruit. In fact, closeness is a negative factor. Closeness brings dilution of care and faith. When Rukmini took the same hot milk, Krishna did not become red since Rukmini was very close to Him. Radha, who was far, proved it otherwise. Of course, the top most devotees are exceptional. Lakshmana and Hanuman were always close to Rama and had the same devotion of Radha. Closeness leads to repulsion and this applies to general lot of humanity. Arjuna also belongs to this general lot only and hence, was called as ‘Nara’ or a general human being. In fact, Arjuna represented a general human being only to show that how the human being errs by neglecting the close human form of God.