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[6] The Thorns Vanish and the Blossoms Remain
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134
Pratikraman
(124)
Questioner: What if the other person does not forgive me for my atikraman, despite my pratikraman?
Dadashri: Do not be concerned about the other person. Don't worry about others forgiving you. The nature of aggression (atikraman) in you should go away. You should become an opponent of atikraman. That is how it should be.
Questioner: What if the other person continues to feel hurt?
Dadashri: Do not be concerned about the other person. Be firm in your conviction that you are an adversary of arikraman. It is not your wish to do atikraman but if it occurs, you should feel remorse and your intent should be that you do not want it to happen again.
Questioner: I now have the courage to say 'sorry' to the other person. I will do pratikraman if any atikraman occurs.
Dadashri: Not a single person is yet born on this earth who has the ability to do even a hair's worth (the slightest) of work.
Questioner: How can it be acceptable if a person intentionally does atikraman, when both the parties are destroying each other off? Then is it possible to become free by doing pratikraman?
Dadashri: What else can you do? This is all a process to turn back from ignorance (bhranti - wrong belief; illusion). It is not worth delving deep into this. Our concern is just with what works.
Here, 'we' have not left anything unanswered. All you have to do is to follow the Agnas. Sometimes, if you have to ask, go ahead and ask. But do not dissect' too much; do not try to analyze anything, otherwise you will lose it'! The buddhi will take over and you will be led astray by it. This is nothing but mischief of the buddhi.
This Gnan is such that one does not have to ask even a word of question; all the solutions are given.
Short Pratikraman Questioner: What if I don't know how to do a lengthy pratikraman? I cannot do pratikraman very fast, but if I make a mistake and feel that I should not have talked the way I did, is that considered pratikraman?
Dadashri: Yes, that is pratikraman. That is all it needs to be. Your current opinion is this and so you can wash it off in this manner.
Now that is not the exact pratikraman, but you removed yourself away from that old opinion, did you not?
Questioner: Then what is correct? Can I do it in short like that?
Dadashri: There is nothing wrong with that. If you do not do it as shown, it is fine because in that situation that is pratikraman all the same. But if 'we' give this answer to every situation, then people will do it haphazardly. There is no problem if that occurs under certain circumstances; it will do. That is pratikraman all the same. To have the opinion of, 'This should not be so,' is pratikraman for sure, because you changed your opinion, did you not? One way or another, your opinion has to be changed.
Do Not Oppose Pratikraman Pratikraman is to be done in order to get rid of that opinion of yours. It is to be done to show that you no longer endorse that opinion and that now you are opposing it. Pratikraman is to be done to show your opposition towards any aggression. Do you understand?
Questioner: Do we have to do pratikraman to show that we oppose the atikraman that occurred?