How can I follow Your advice and be patient towards a person who harmed me?
[Several devotees from various places, ranging from illiterate to highly qualified, came to Swami, seeking the clarification of their doubts in spiritual knowledge. Some of the prominent questions, along with the clarifications given by Swami, are given here.]
Swami replied: There are two ways of thinking, which will develop your patience towards your enemy.
- The first way of thinking is as follows: I do not know whether this is a fresh case, in which the enemy harmed me without any fault on my side or it is a case of retaliation, in which the enemy harmed me since I had harmed him in the previous birth. God is omniscient and knows all the births of every soul and hence, He can alone decide whether this is a fresh case or a case of retaliation. If this is a fresh case and if the person does not get reformed even after the time given to the person by God to reform, then God will certainly punish the person suitably. If this is a case of retaliation for the harm caused by me in the past life to the person, the case is now closed. My debt is cleared. It is always better to clear a debt as early as possible without further compounding interest. I should thank God for clearing my debt”. This is the path of spiritual knowledge. It is the best path for you if you can develop patience through spiritual knowledge and if you have firm faith in the divine administration of God, in which there will never be an error. This path is good for you, if you can conquer your anger, hatred and attitude of revenge against your enemy with the help of spiritual knowledge.
- If you are unable to conquer your anger or hatred and develop patience by the above method, follow the second method. Assume that it is a case of retaliation and think in this manner, “I must have certainly harmed my present enemy in my previous birth. In this life, he is merely harming me in return. So, the case is closed without any further delay. If this case had not been closed right now, I would have to be harmed by this enemy in future births. It would have been a terrible loss for me because delaying the punishment increases the punishment as it gathers interest.”. This is the best way for anybody to avoid the idea of revenge from the very beginning. Even if you have a doubt that perhaps, this case might be a fresh case, you need not bother to take revenge. No sinner can escape the punishment of his or her sins in the divine administration of God, if the sinner has not reformed within the stipulated time provided by God for reformaton.
You must realize that the loss caused by your enemy to you is never compensated in any way when you take revenge against your enemy. But if you conquer the thought of revenge, God will be pleased with you. He will compensate you for your loss, even if it is a case of harm done by the other person to you in return. If you show divine patience, God will give you this divine gift of compensation! The Kauravas had badly insulted Draupadi and God Krishna had already decided to destroy the Kauravas. It was a fresh case of a crime and not a case of a crime done in return. Even if Draupadi had managed to remain silent and patient, thinking that it was a case of a crime done in return, the Kauravas would have been killed by God, in any case. Draupadi would have been additionally rewarded by Krishna, by making her five sons become kings. But Draupadi always burned with terrible anger and a desire for revenge against the Kauravas. She wanted the Kauravas to be killed. For her attitude of revenge, not only the wicked Kauravas, but even Draupadi was punished by God. Draupadi’s five sons were killed by Aśvatthāmā after the war. Thus, the sons of Draupadi could not become kings. The absence of the attitude for revenge brings a gift from God and presence of the attitude of revenge brings unnecessary extra punishment from God. That is why Jesus said that one should leave the revenge to God and that one should not take revenge against one’s enemy.
Ashvatthaama
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