Guest guest Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 INFALLIBLE JUSTICE – CLARIFICATIONS Dear sir, My friend Shri. Samir had raised some doubts. Would you please give your views. I am reproducing his mail for your reference. Regards. Sivanandam ---- ------------- I have some confussion in that. Request you to please clear the same for my own justification please. 1. The soul who is not educated properly and does any activity either bad or good. How can it be responsible for such karma? The parents who does not educate their child is also not knowledgable so how can even they be responsible for such karma. Infact parents does not know to which soul or spirit they are going to give the birth. Everyone is innocent here. On what logic or basis the justice of divine works? 2. The Karma's which actually done by anyone is thru the mind. Depending upon the development of mind and that thaught. When a person dies, only the spirit remains live which does not carry the mind with it. How can be the spirit responsible for any karma's done. How can be the Fruit of Karma done in one live has to be carryforward to the second life. 3. Does this rules applicable to all the livingbeing like plants, animals, birds etc or just for human beings. Kindly explain. Thanks a lot. Samir Patel Mobile: (+44) 07939399984 Hare Krishna, The soul who is not educated properly and does any activity either bad or good. How can it be responsible for such karma? The essay entitled 'The Infallible Justice' discusses the Law of Karma. As any other Law of Nature e.g. Law of Entropy, Law of Gravity etc., the Law of Karma is inviolable. It is a law that when a person puts his hand in fire, it will be burnt. This is true even if it is accidental. Similarly even if an innocent child puts his hand in fire to see what happens, he will still see the necessary effect. There is no discrimination here as to whether the situation is accidental or if it is an immature child. A soul that is in born in this material world is bound by the law of karma as much as he is bound by any other law of nature. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for pleading innocence as much as ignorance of putting hands in fire is no excuse for being immune of its effects. The unfortunate situation is 99% of the people of this world are either unaware of this law or choose not to be aware of the law even after knowing it. Sastras explain that this material world is a place of reform as much as a prison house is a place of reform for the criminals. Prison house is a place for anti-social elements who deliberately disobey the laws of state. The souls who choose not to accept the laws of God are thrown in to this material world for reform. And in a prison house, the laws are more strict, aren't they? If things are mellow, the souls will never reform and understand that this world is not their constitutional position. The whole purpose of this material world is to re-establish our relationship with Sri Krishna who is our eternal father, mother, grandsire and the only well wishing friend. Our disease is we consider this material world a picnic and view everything as our property for enjoyment. Every action (karma) that we do in this world has its consequence. Just as if you write the exam well, you will pass out with flying colors. Is it possible that you write the exam and your neighbour or friend tops the class? Similarly, when a person does good/bad, he is responsible to enjoy/suffers its fruits. A question may be raised here that we see cases where a person does not perform well, despite studying properly. I will answer this in the second question. The above example is cited to explain the principle. The intricacies will be dealt separately. The parents who does not educate their child is also not knowledgable so how can even they be responsible for such karma. Srimad Bhagavatam (5.5.18) explains: gurur na sa syat sva jano na sa syat pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat daivam na tat syan na patis ca sa syan na mocayed yah samupeta mrtyum "One who cannot deliver his dependants from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a guru, a relative, a father, mother, demigod, or husband" Thus it is the verdict of sastras that it is the responsibility of the parent to educate their children so that the latter will be delivered. Just as your good self and other members of this society are curious to know the Vedic wisdom, it is the duty of every resonsible human to inquire about the transcendental facts. Ignorance of the responsibility is tantamount to being irresponsible. For e.g. when a person is hired as a graduate research asssistant, it is his responsibility to find out what he needs to do. If the required is not done, then it is an irresponsible behavior and liable for strict action. Infact parents does not know to which soul or spirit they are going to give the birth. Yes, it can never be known or controlled which soul enters the womb. However the mentality (divine or demoniac) of the soul, that is produced of its prolonged association with matter, can be controlled. Previously, garbha-dana samskara was performed because of which the souls would take human body to manifest its divine qualities. When this was not performed souls took up a body to exhibit demoniac mentality. For.e.g. in third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam there is a dialogue between Kasyapa muni and Diti. At the undeniable request of Diti, Kasyapa was obliged to have relationship with her at a wrong time (evening) and without any samskaras, the result was Hiranyakasipu. Today, because of lack of proper samskaras, we have trillions of Hiranyakasipus. How can one expect peace or propagation of proper vedic knowledge? The ignorance encountered in this world is a cummulative effect. There are many factors that have been instrumental. I will prefer not to discuss the extrinsic causes like prolonged foreign rule etc. The primary intrinsic reason is voluntary rejection of sastric injunctions and taking up a life of sense gratification by our forefathers (unpalatable but true). The effect was systematic attrition in understanding the Vedic injunctions. The effect was compounded by propogation of atheistic doctrines and concocted seemingly- theistic ideologies. The result is utter confusion and misfortune, as given in the Bhagavat. Everyone is innocent here. It is important to understand that the chief cause of innocence of anyone is their voluntary ignorance. It is easy to awaken a sleeping person but impossible to awaken a person who is acting. This fact becomes obvious during preaching when people choose not to understand the transcendental facts. The innocence that you are referring is contaminated with deliberate ignorance and hence, in the eyes of the Divine, not pardonable. On what logic or basis the justice of divine works The logic is simple and has been explained above. The Divine works on Divine Logic. We find it hard to understand or accept because of our limitedness. The Complete produces everything that is complete. Any perceptible incompleteness is because of incomplete knowledge of the complete. Having said this, one should not prematurely conclude that the Divine being callous to souls dwelling in this world. When a father slaps a child, it is for the latter's good. Similarly, the justice meted out to us is for our betterment. Every slap is didactic for the soul who is ready to reform. Every action has its reaction. However the reaction can be from this life or from past life. There are different types of karmic reactions. I will prefer to merge the answer for this with that of the second question. Since this e-mail is long, I will post the replies for the other questions in different parts. Thank you for the pertinent questions. Your servant Vidyadhar PS: You can call me Vidyadhar. Hare Krishna, The Karma's which actually done by anyone is thru the mind. Depending upon the development of mind and that thought. When a person dies, only the spirit remains live which does not carry the mind with it. When a person dies, the spirit leaves the gross body made up of earth, water, fire, air and ether. But he carries with it, the subtle body consisting of mind, intelligence and false ego. How can be the spirit responsible for any karma's done. As each spirit has his own identity, he is responsible for his actions. How can be the Fruit of Karma done in one live has to be carryforward to the second life. There are three types of karma - sanchita karma, prarabdha karma and kriyamana karmai Sanchita Karma: These are the accumulated actions. This includes all of our karmas from the past (including this life and the previous ones). It includes the karmas to be borne sooner or later from both good and bad actions. Prarabdha Karma:These are the actions that are bearing fruit. The karmas that do not bear fruit in this life are accumulated as sanchita karma. Such karma are manifested in the next human life when conditions are suitable for the soul to suffer reactions of the karma. For.e.g an assassin may escape reaction in the present life but may be born as paraplegic in the next life. Other classic example is of Dhritarashtra. He had committed a karma of killing 100 male progenies of a bird couple. He had to wait for a suitable time for the reaction to manifest. To have a son requires lot of punya and to have 100 sons require even more. He had to wait for 100 human lives to accummulate enough good karma to have 100 sons. When he had the same, he had to suffer to see his 100 sons dying in front of his eyes. When it is seen that a son dies before father, it should be concluded that it is some previous bad karma on part of the father. Kriyamana Karma: These are new karmas we are creating by excercising our free will. Depending upon how we act, the karma will make or mar our future. The karmas that do not bear fruit in this life (arabdha karma) will be stored as anarabdha sanchita karma for next lives. The Law of Karma is a law of action and reaction. For every action that we commit, an equal action will be committed upon us. The Law of Karma is the Law of Divine Justice – pure, unbiased, absolute, and inescapable. If we do not get the reaction of our karma in this life then the law entails that the reaction be carried forward in the next life. We cannot escape. Does this rules applicable to all the livingbeing like plants, animals, birds etc or just for human beings The other life forms are produced by God to fulfill the desires of humans that cannot be fulfilled in human body. This can also be stated as the actions that are not to be performed in human body necessiate creation of suitable body wherein the desires can be fulfilled. For e.g. human body is not meant for eating meat. If someone does this act, then the law is he will get a body of carnivore so that he can enjoy meat to his heart's content. This human form is not meant for scuba diving, a person who does it will have to become a fish so that he can dive to his heart's content. In lower life forms there is no play of free will. The soul is forced to act accordingly. Only human life gives the necessary facility to excercise the free will. This is required because, this life is the platform to inquire about the Absolute Truth. It is a great responsibility. Just as Dean of a University is a responsible position. The person who does not fulfill his responsibilites will be liable for strict action. Similarly in human form, a person who does not dovetail his free will with the instructions of God is liable for strict disciplinary action. Human life offers an exit from this cycle. If this facility is not kept the soul can never go back to Godhead. Also not holding lower life forms responsible for their actions is a facility. If they are held responsible, then again this mesh of karma will become even more intricate. This is His mercy. So is there a way out of this recursive cycle? Yes. Bible says "As you shall sow, shall you reap". Performing karmais like sowing a seed. Some seeds germinate quickly, but there are other that are dormant. But nevertheless the dormant seeds will germinate some day. However, if we deep fry the seeds then the seeds will never germinate. Similarly we should fry our karmic seeds in Krsna Consciousness. This is done by acting for Krishna as He says in the BG 9.27: yat karosi yad asnasi yaj juhosi dadasi yat yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurusva mad-arpanam "O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me". If we act for Krishna, then our karma will not bear fruit. As he says in BG 18.66, "Abandon all varieties of religon and just surrender unto Me. I will deliver you from your sinful reactions. Do not fear". This is His causless mercy. The Law of Karma is strict for those who want to disobey the orders of the Lord. Just as the law of the state appears strict for the criminals. But as soon as we follow Krishna's orders we are immediately freed from all sins. And following His orders begins with chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra and regularly reading Srimad Bhagavatam. The power of the Holy Name is such that it can deliver one from the quantum if sin that he may not be able to commit. Thank you very much, Hare Krishna. Your servant Vidyadhar Graduate Research Assistant Molecular Plant Breeding 419, Crop Science Building Department of Crop and Soil Science Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331. Phone: 541-737-5844 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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