05 Apr 2020
[Smt. Priya, wife of Shri Pavan asked this question to Swami during a satsaṅga at their home.]
Swami replied: You cannot blame God or the astrological planets for this situation. You can neither blame the judge who punished you nor the police department that arrested you. You have to blame your own crime which you had committed previously. It is that crime which made God who is the divine judge and the planets (deities) who are the divine police officers, act in a way that has given you pain. Some people are very clever and they say that the present bad fruit that they have received is due to some sin committed by them in the past birth. They pretend as if they have not done any sin in this birth! Even Sītā said the same to Lakṣmaṇa, when she was left by Rāma in the forest. Actually, she had committed the greatest sin in her current birth itself. She had blamed Lakṣmaṇa and assassinated his character in the forest, a few years earlier. Lakṣmaṇa’s character was spotless. Yet she had put an unspeakable blame upon him. It was that sin of hers which led to the assassination of her character by the citizens of Ayodhyā. She too was blamed of being unchaste. The fruit of the sin is a reflection of the sin.
Prayers to God and the planets (deities) will only postpone the punishment to a later date. It is a helpful relief because, in the meanwhile, one can strive for permanent reformation, which alone leads to the cancellation of all pending sins. Reformation means the three steps of realization of the sin (jñāna yoga), repentance for committing the sin (bhakti yoga) and non-repetition of the sin in the future (karma yoga). In the absence of the permanent reformation through jñāna yoga, a temporary reformation through punishment is the next best option since something is better than nothing. In the absence of devotion, temporary control of the sin through the fear of punishment is the next best option and is inevitable.
Keywords:
| Shri Dattaswami | Lakshmana Ayodhya Jnana
★ ★ ★ ★ ★