Answer
Yes. A certain amount of anxiety connected with Krishna’s service is natural and even beneficial.
No one can perform meaningful service without accepting some degree of responsibility and effort. The question is not whether anxiety exists, but what kind of anxiety it is.
If you think that you alone are responsible for everything, your anxiety becomes excessive and eventually leads to burnout and frustration.
A devotee learns to accept dasa-level anxiety—the anxiety of a servant.
The servant thinks:
“What is my contribution?”
“What should I do?”
“How can I serve properly?”
But he does not take the anxiety of controlling the result.
For example, if a temple project must be completed, I may sincerely exert myself and take responsibility for my service. But I should not think, “Whether this project succeeds or fails depends entirely on me.” That burden belongs to Krishna.
The result is always under the Lord’s control. The devotee is responsible only for his sincere contribution, not for the final outcome.
This understanding protects the devotee from unnecessary stress. Even the temple president cannot truthfully say, “I am running the temple.” Every devotee contributes according to his role, and ultimately the Supersoul and the Guru coordinate everything.
In devotional service, the real doer is Krishna working through His devotees.
Therefore, Krishna-conscious anxiety is surrendered anxiety—anxiety accompanied by faith that the Lord will guide, protect, and provide whatever is necessary.
Such anxiety is actually joyful because it allows the devotee to experience Krishna’s reciprocation. As one grows spiritually, one increasingly feels, “Krishna is always with me. I am not serving alone. I am not thinking alone. I am not acting alone.”
This is real Krishna consciousness.
As Krishna told Arjuna, “Become merely an instrument.” The Lord has already determined the ultimate result; the devotee’s duty is simply to perform his service sincerely.
