Bundling Punishment and Rewards

[Guest guest]

Jaya Guru Datta,

 

Here is today's saying:

 

“We are discussing about the punishment to be given to the erring person. The

punishment should not be given when the offender is in an agitated state of

mind. Therefore, God takes His own time.

 

But the offender will have totally forgotten his mistake by the time the

punishment is meted out to him. He will not realize as to why he is suffering

the punishment now. Of what use is such punishment?

 

This is where man’s Vijnaana (the realization that what he is doing is wrong)

should act. Here is where he should be careful about the demon called

selfishness, which on account of his past tendencies will be ever ready to

pounce on him. He who is pious now (in this birth) should remember that the

Almighty, who is meting out punishment, is like a benevolent father and that he

is all compassionate. Selfish tendencies of many births will be always trying to

prevent man from thinking on these lines. At the same time, the Vijnaana that he

has acquired in this life will try to remind him about it. When the past

tendencies dominate, the person will think ' I have never meant harm to anyone.

Why is God giving me this punishment?' When the Vijnaana of the present birth

dominates, he will think, 'the Almighty, who is giving me this punishment is

impartial. He is all-compassionate. I must have committed some sin in my past

lives. What those sins were is not important now. What is importa

nt is, that I should undergo the punishment with determination. It is my duty to

learn proper behavior and to apply it in my future life.'

 

Generally, the lives of all human beings keep swinging between these two

extremities. Because of the unceasing efforts of God, man becomes eligible for

better Samskaras in subsequent births and consequently, the degree of punishment

will also reduce. Finally, man will attain divinity.

 

It is a long process. There are no short cuts. God therefore bundles punishment

for the past wicked deeds and rewards for noble deeds and packages them as one

lifetime of humans. In between two births, he gives a brief rest in the form of

death."

 

Sri Swamiji

Bhakti Mala, February 2002 pp. 11-12

http://www.dattapeetham.com/india/bhaktimala/feb2000/sooktifeb2000.html

 

Sri Guru Datta,

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