Guest guest Posted February 6, 2003 Report Share Posted February 6, 2003 I received the following mail: > We are doing college preaching programs here in Salem on the basis of > Science of Self-Realization course by Radha-Gopinath Prabhu from > Chowpatti. > > In one of his lectures he declares that it is not possible to neutralize > the results of sinful activities (papam) by performing pious activities > (punya). Is it really so? Of course, we understand that punya cannot > purify the heart from material desires which are sinful, and that's why it > is rejected by Vaisnavas. But it seems questionable that one cannot > neutralize his sins by pious deeds. So we would like to know how it works. > Does it happen automatically? Something like this: after death one's sins > are put on one scale and his pious deeds - on the other, and depending on > which scale overweighs one goes either to heaven or to hell. Also, if a > pious person commits sin, does he have to go to hell to suffer for it, or > it is automatically neutralized by his pious stock? > > We would also like to know how prayascitta works. It is enjoined in the > Vedic scriptures that before leaving the body everyone should atone for > his sins, or perform prayascitta. According to our understanding, > prayascitta means that one admits his particular sin and does something to > neutralize it. Means of atonement in this case will depend on the gravity > of the sin committed. Srila Prabhupada gives example of medicine, saying > that medicine for flu will cost less than treatment for cancer. So if we > take this prayascitta into consideration, it appears that results of > sinful activities are not neutralized automatically but require particular > atonement. > > We have been discussing these points for the last few days and could not > come to any definite conclusion. Please relieve us from our bewilderment. MY BRIEF REPLY: > > Srila Prabhupada gives example of medicine, saying that medicine > > for flu will cost less than treatment for cancer. > > What is the reference for that quote? > > Although I've not found any explicit statement in sastra, it appears that > prayascitta neutralizes the effect of sin, but not wholly so. As Yamaraja > tells the Yamadutas (SB Canto 6): "Bring to me only those persons who > never chant the names of the Hari." Any more insights on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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