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Redeeming ourselves
Courtesy:Smt.Dr.Saroja Ramanujam
Am I right or wrong?
This is the question everyone is confronted with throughout their lives. Who can give you the right answer? You yourself. That is, your conscience, if you have not succeeded in killing it already. Let us imagine that one is contemplating a sin, may it be as slight as telling a lie or more serious like drinking, gambling, stealing or indulging in immorality, all of which are adharma, for the first time. His conscience immediately tells him that it is wrong.
If he listens to it and has a strong mind to desist from doing it, he is saved. But with an average individual who is susceptible to temptation, even if he is well versed in religious and scriptural works, it is often impossible not to succumb to temptation. It may be due to evil influence or his own past karma which is always a mixture of good and bad for everyone.
When he succumbs to temptation he develops a deafness to the voice his conscience and what is worse, he starts justifying his actions giving lame excuses or worse still, if he is a learned person, starts quoting from epics and puranas to justify himself, such as , Krishna also stole , played with women, Rama also told a lie etc. This is like devil quoting the scriptures.
Once a person sent a question saying that when Krishna married so many women why he cannot do so. I replied that Krishna was present in the house of every wife at the same time and if he is also capable of doing so he can marry any number of women. But Krishna's activities and Rama and Seetha telling a lie has deeper significance which will be evident if only one reads these epics properly. That I will come to later.
What should be understood here is that if one ignores the conscience or avoids it , trying to deceive himself by giving reasons to justify his action, the conscience is stifled and becomes silent after a while. Then the individual degrades himself further and further giving way to his evil impulses which win over his good impulses until one day he realizes his folly when it is too late for redemption.
But there is still hope because the Lord has said in the Gita , 'api cheth sudhuraachaaro bajathe maam ananyabhaak saaDhureva sa manthavyaH', meaning, even if one is a confirmed sinner, if he worships Me with a steadfast mind, he is to be considered as a good person. It is because the devotion coupled with repentance dissolves all sins. What happens to him then? kshipram bhavathi Dharmaathmaa saSvath Saanthim nigacChathi, Krishna says, meaning, he becomes a righteous person immediately and attains everlasting peace, because , ( here we have the eternal assurance of one who is all mercy and love for all beings),
kountheya prathijaaneehi na me bhakthaH praNaSyathi, meaning, Arjuna, proclaim from Me that My devotee never perishes."
There were examples of this in the epics and puranas like Valmiki and Bilvamangala, otherwise known as Leelasuka, and even Purandharadhasa., all who changed from men of worldly desires to great bhakthas in a matter of moments.
But there is difference between those who do not know any better due to their ignorance and those who know dharma and adharma well but tries to deceive themselves and others by justifying what they do and worse still, pose as though they are virtuous. The redemption for them is in their own hands when they start seeing the reality themselves.
Courtesy:Smt.Dr.Saroja Ramanujam
Am I right or wrong?
This is the question everyone is confronted with throughout their lives. Who can give you the right answer? You yourself. That is, your conscience, if you have not succeeded in killing it already. Let us imagine that one is contemplating a sin, may it be as slight as telling a lie or more serious like drinking, gambling, stealing or indulging in immorality, all of which are adharma, for the first time. His conscience immediately tells him that it is wrong.
If he listens to it and has a strong mind to desist from doing it, he is saved. But with an average individual who is susceptible to temptation, even if he is well versed in religious and scriptural works, it is often impossible not to succumb to temptation. It may be due to evil influence or his own past karma which is always a mixture of good and bad for everyone.
When he succumbs to temptation he develops a deafness to the voice his conscience and what is worse, he starts justifying his actions giving lame excuses or worse still, if he is a learned person, starts quoting from epics and puranas to justify himself, such as , Krishna also stole , played with women, Rama also told a lie etc. This is like devil quoting the scriptures.
Once a person sent a question saying that when Krishna married so many women why he cannot do so. I replied that Krishna was present in the house of every wife at the same time and if he is also capable of doing so he can marry any number of women. But Krishna's activities and Rama and Seetha telling a lie has deeper significance which will be evident if only one reads these epics properly. That I will come to later.
What should be understood here is that if one ignores the conscience or avoids it , trying to deceive himself by giving reasons to justify his action, the conscience is stifled and becomes silent after a while. Then the individual degrades himself further and further giving way to his evil impulses which win over his good impulses until one day he realizes his folly when it is too late for redemption.
But there is still hope because the Lord has said in the Gita , 'api cheth sudhuraachaaro bajathe maam ananyabhaak saaDhureva sa manthavyaH', meaning, even if one is a confirmed sinner, if he worships Me with a steadfast mind, he is to be considered as a good person. It is because the devotion coupled with repentance dissolves all sins. What happens to him then? kshipram bhavathi Dharmaathmaa saSvath Saanthim nigacChathi, Krishna says, meaning, he becomes a righteous person immediately and attains everlasting peace, because , ( here we have the eternal assurance of one who is all mercy and love for all beings),
kountheya prathijaaneehi na me bhakthaH praNaSyathi, meaning, Arjuna, proclaim from Me that My devotee never perishes."
There were examples of this in the epics and puranas like Valmiki and Bilvamangala, otherwise known as Leelasuka, and even Purandharadhasa., all who changed from men of worldly desires to great bhakthas in a matter of moments.
But there is difference between those who do not know any better due to their ignorance and those who know dharma and adharma well but tries to deceive themselves and others by justifying what they do and worse still, pose as though they are virtuous. The redemption for them is in their own hands when they start seeing the reality themselves.