Pratikraman: The Key That Resolves All Conflicts (Full Version) Pratikraman: The Key That Resolves All Conflicts | Page 84

[2] Every Religion Supports Pratikraman
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swachhand (actions guided by one’s belief that, ‘I am Chandulal’)
and, therefore, repentance is necessary.
Do you think the Lord would interfere in such matters?
He is just the Knower-Seer and in eternal bliss. He Sees and
Knows everything. Do you think He inspires one in all this?
When the tuber (inner complex of karma effect) of stealing
sprouts within, one will have thoughts of stealing. If that tuber
is large, he will have many thoughts and he may even go ahead
and steal. He will also tell you how cleverly he went about
stealing. When he does that, he nourishes that tuber. With
nourishment, new seeds continue to be planted and the tuber
of stealing grows bigger. Say there is another thief and even
though he steals, it bothers him, ‘What I am doing is wrong,
but what else can I do? I have to feed my family.’ He steals
but he repents sincerely and, in doing so, his tuber of stealing
does not get nourishment. And for his next life, he plants the
‘seeds’ of not stealing and, consequently, he will not steal in
his next life.
Repent Heartily
Nature forgives a man who repents after he steals. When
he repents, nature does not count it as an offence or sin. People,
on the other hand, will punish him and he will have to suffer the
consequences of his actions in this life.
Questioner: But that is what everyone believes – that it
is wrong to tell a lie, to eat meat, to misbehave and yet people
do all those things. Why is that?
Dadashri: If a person was to repent heartily, his faults
would eventually disappear. But people speak superficially.
Although you may commit a terrible mistake, if you sincerely
repent for it, it will not occur again. If it occurs again, it does not
matter as long as you continue to repent.
Questioner: So is it possible for a man to improve? (24)