CLEARING KARMA IN TWO WAYS – CLEAR EXPLANATION!
A devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
Hare Krishna. Dandavat pranam Pravu. I am following your group and like your counselling very much. Thank you for providing such nice service. Recently I have read your post.. Where a devotee girl was asking about her previous relationship with another boy.. Etc.. You answered very well everything. But, I want to clarify my doubts for just one point.. You mentioned that Krishna will not clear your sin or your karma.. He can provide temporary immunity.. You explained like that. My doubt is that, being Supreme Personality of Godhead if Krishna doesn’t clear our sin or past karma.. Then who will take care of us? This material world is dangerous and full of miseries. Here “padam padam bipadam”.. Knowingly or unknowingly we are going through such things. I heard Prabhupada gave example of morning walk. While walking we don’t know how many ants are dying under our feet… So I think there should be some process to come out of this karmic cycle.. This cycle of sins. Krishna assures us in Bhagvad Gita.. “Sarbadharman paritajyo mamekam sharanam vraja.. Aham tyam sarbo papevyo mokhayasami ma shucha..” (Sorry for spelling mistakes). So I am little confused.. Please clarify it whenever you get time and send me in my fb message inbox. Actually I was a non vegetarian and killed several animals now for many years I am a pure vegetarian. Please send it my message inbox. Or hide my name. Thank you again for your wonderful service. Hare Krishna.
(Parents’ karma or Child’s karma – Which gives a child with disabilities? READ HERE!)
REPLY:
Consider a person lives for 80 years.
He has done many sins in this and previous births.
Hence, he has to face the reactions for all his karma. This is the system.
He realizes his offences at a point of time in his age 50. From then, he stops further sinning and surrender himself to Krishna and assures Krishna that he will not involve in sinful life hereafter. Most importantly, he deserts all his material attachments and live just as an instrument in the hands of Krishna without claiming himself as the cause for anything.
He also follows cleansing processes such as worshiping, chanting, honouring prasadam, respecting vaishnavas and serving them, etc with sincerity and love.
(Why Krishna gives more problems to His devotees, but helping many non devotees? READ HERE!)
What happens now?
Krishna becomes happy that a guy has reformed himself and abandoned sinful life and also has surrendered to Him and has also deserted his material goals.
Therefore, Krishna takes anyone of the two steps to help that devotee in clearing karma:
(i) BY CLEARING THE KARMA FASTER THAN OTHERS (FOR THOSE HAVING MATERIAL ATTACHMENTS):
Though that devotee has decided to follow devotion seriously in his age 50, Krishna may still feel that he may fall from devotion if he is not first relieved from material attachments. In such cases, Krishna clears his karma by giving miseries, ie, reactions for his past karma.
(How Can a disciple reduce his guru’s Karma? Wonderful Tips! READ HERE!)
Krishna fastens all the reactions he has to face in many births and give the reactions in fast track within this birth. This will clear all the reactions of his karma. Since he will not involve in sinful acts in future, Krishna will be comfortable to take him to His kingdom after his death. this may happen either in a single birth or in a few more births.
That is why, a devotee takes all the miseries as the cleansing process by Krishna. And, this is the reason why the devotees face more miseries. If Krishna does not give more pains as the reactions for his karma, he will have to face those reactions in many births.
To help that devotee to come to His kingdom within this birth OR a few births itself, Krishna clears all the reactions of that devotee by giving all the miseries (reactions) fast. Because, only a person who is pure without pending serious karma can enter into the kingdom of Krishna.
This is the one way out of two Krishna follows for clearing karma of the devotee from material attachments and hence from his pending karma.
(Will the death of a patient adds karma to the doctors? READ HERE!)
By giving miseries in fast track, Krishna helps the devotee in clearing karma by getting rid of material attachments and hence from all his pending karma also fast. Now, the devotee becomes pure and even without material attachments.
(2) FOR THOSE DEVOTEES WHO HAVE DESERTED MATERIAL ATTACHMENTS ON THEIR OWN:
In this case, that devotee performs ALL his activities without attachments and also follows sincere devotion. In this case, since he has no material attachments and hence he will not add further new karma. He must be helped by Krishna to advance in devotion further. Therefore, Krishna helps that devotee by keeping all the reactions of his past and present karma under suspension except the ageing, diseases and death. Therefore, that devotee gets relieved from all the pains that will help him to advance in devotion further.
(Why should we fear for karma as we forget our karma in next birth? READ HERE!)
Why suspension, not total clearing once for all?
Suspension means conditional. All his past karma are suspended TILL THAT DEVOTEE FOLLOWS HIS PRESENT SINCERITY in devotion and material detachment.
Unitil that devotee follows material detachments and attachment to Krishna, this suspension from karma will exist. If he follows this sincerity till he dies, that suspension becomes permanent because he has completed his life time keeping up his resolutions to follow devotion properly.
Therefore, after death, he goes back to the kingdom of Krishna. This means, even this suspension helps him to go back to Krishna.
(Are Siva and Brahma subject to karma and death like us? READ HERE!)
Therefore, suspension does not means temporary. Suspension means UNTIL HE FOLLOWS DEVOTION SINCERELY. ie, Clearing karma conditionally.
This is just conditional.
Why conditional? Because, there can be another possibility too.
In case, he backtracks from his devotion falling prey to the tricks of maya again and start to develop material attachments again, this suspension will be withdrawn and he has to face the karmic reactions again. He will be given another birth to get opportunity to get cleansed.
That’s all. Nothing serious!
(Is violating the karma possible? READ HERE!)
Thus, Krishana makes the devotee serious in devotion in two ways:
(i) By giving more pains thereby making him desert attachments and clearing his karma within this birth or few births.
(ii) By suspending the reactions of Karma helping the devotee follow devotion seriously, if that devotee had already deserted his attachments.
Which method to follow for a devotee is the condition of material detachment of that devotee and also the causeless mercy of Krishna.
Krishna chooses anyone of the method depending on the mindset of the devotee for clearing karma.
(How our next country and religion of birth are decided by karma? READ HERE!)
Some persons may become highly materialistic if Krishna gives him money and more pleasures. Therefore, Krishna gives him more pains to make him develop material detachment and attachment to Krishna.
Therefore, two types of approach becomes necessary for clearing karma. Krishna too follows the same two methods.
As said by A.C. Bakthi Vedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON, Krishna takes away all the properties of a devotee in some cases and he blesses more wealth to some other devotees to make that devotee serious in devotion. He either gives or takes depending on the detachment level of every devotee.
Hope you are clear now about clearing karma.
(Is it true that Krishna has written our fate already? READ HERE!)