How Devotional Service or Bhakti relieves from karma & distress?
There is only one permanent solution for material distress. It is a spiritual solution.
It is FOLLOWING DEVOTIONAL SERVICE to the Lord.
How Devotional Service or Bhakti relieves from karma & material distress?
Let us see with the help of the views of Srila Prabhupada and Sril Rupa Gosvami.
Out of the six characteristics of devotional service, today we will see the first one:
Bhakti relieves from karma. But how it happens?
In Bhagavad-gita, the Lord says that one should surrender unto Him, giving up all other engagements and He will protect surrendered souls from the reactions of all sinful activities.
(Is Changing Karma by prayers possible or not? READ HERE!)
Srila Rupa Gosvami says that the distresses from sinful activities are due both the sins committed in this birth and to sins committed in our past lives.
Generally, one commits sinful activities due to ignorance. But ignorance is no excuse for evading the reaction–sinful activities.
Sinful activities are of two kinds:
(i) Those which are matured;
(ii) those which are not yet matured.
The sinful activities for which we are suffering at the present moment are called “matured”.
The many sinful activities stored within us for which we have not yet suffered are considered “immatured”.
For example, a man may have committed criminal acts, but not yet been arrested for them. Now, as soon as he is detected, arrest is awaiting him.
Similarly, for some of our Immatured sinful activities we are awaiting distresses in the future.
And for other sins, which are matured, we are suffering at the present moment.
He is suffering in the present life the results of sinful activities from his past life, and he is meanwhile creating further sufferings for his future life (by involving in sins in this birth too).
(Why should we fear for karma as we forget our karma in next birth? READ HERE!)
Examples for the Matured sinful activities for which we are now suffering:
(i) If one is suffering from some chronic disease,
(ii) If one is suffering from some legal implication,
(iii) if one is born in a low and degraded family or
(iv) if one is uneducated or very ugly.
There are many results of past sinful activities for which we are suffering at the present moment, and, we may be suffering in the future due to our present sinful activities.
But all of these reactions to sinful deeds can immediately be stopped if we take to Krsna consciousness.
As evidence for this, Rupa Gosvami quotes from Srimad-Bhagavatam, (11-14-19):
This verse is in connection with Lord Krsna’s instruction to Uddhava, where He says, “My dear Uddhava, devotional service unto Me is just like a blazing fire which can burn into ashes unlimited fuel supplied to it.”
The purport is that as the blazing fire can burn any amount of fuel to ashes, so devotional service to the Lord in Krsna consciousness can burn up all the fuel of sinful activities.
For example, in the Gita Arjuna thought that fighting was a sinful activity, but Krsna engaged him on the battlefield under His order, and so the fighting became devotional service. Therefore, Arjuna was not subjected to any sinful reaction.
(Why should we fear for karma as we forget our karma in next birth? READ HERE!)
In Srimad-Bhagavatam (3-33-6), Devahuti addresses her son, Kapiladeva, and says:
“My dear Lord, there are nine different kinds of devotional service, beginning from hearing and chanting. Anyone who hears about Your pastimes, who chants about Your glories, who offers You obeisances, who thinks of You and, in this way, executes any of the nine kinds of devotional service–even if he is born in a family of dog-eaters [the lowest grade of mankind]–becomes immediately qualified to perform sacrifices.”
Sukadeva Gosvami speaks in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (6-2-17) about the story of Ajamila, who began life as a fine and dutiful brahmana, but in his young manhood became wholly corrupted by a prostitute. At the end of his wicked life, just by calling the name “Narayana [Krsna],” he was saved despite so much sin.
Sukadeva points out that austerity, charity and the performance of ritualistic ceremonies for counteracting sinful activities are recommended processes, but that by performing them one cannot remove the sinful desire-seed from the heart, as was the case with Ajamila in his youth.
This sinful desire-seed can be removed only by achieving Krsna consciousness. And this can be accomplished very easily by chanting the maha-mantra, or Hare Krsna mantra, as recommended by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
In other words, unless one adopts the path of devotional service, he cannot be one-hundred-percent clean from all the reactions of sinful activities.
(HOW CHANTING CLEARS OUR KARMA OF EVEN WILFUL SINS? READ HERE!)
This ignorance of factual knowledge can also be dissipated by Krsna consciousness, as is confirmed in the Padma Purana as follows:
“Pure devotional service in Krsna consciousness is the highest enlightenment, and when such enlightenment is there, it is just like a blazing forest fire, killing all the inauspicious snakes of desire.”
The example is being given in this connection that when there is a forest fire the extensive blazing automatically kills all the snakes in the forest.
Thus, Only the Devotional Service or Bhakti relieves from karma & material distress by relieving him from his past sinful acts.
By SUPPORTING this ONLINE PREACHING service you too are taking part in this devotional service of preaching that takes us very dear to Krishna.
SIX CHARACTERISTICS OF PURE DEVOTIONAL SERVICE CAN BE READ HERE!
OTHER FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PURE DEVOTIONAL SERVICE ARE:
Why Krishna Consciousness Is All-auspicious & Capable to reform others? READ HERE!
Why the Only way to get Real Happiness is Krishna Consciousness? READ HERE!
Why Pure Devotional Service is Rare to achieve? READ HERE!
MUKTI or MOKSHA or DEVOTIONAL SERVICE – WHAT IS THE TARGET OF DEVOTEES? READ HERE!
Why Krishna is attracted by Pure Devotional service only? READ HERE!