Pratikramana Freedom Through Apology and Repentance

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Dada Bhagwan Foundation

Page 10

Pratikraman
Pratikraman
Questioner: Is pratikraman only to be done for seeing faults in others?
Dadashri: Not just for that, but also for telling lies, for insulting or hurting someone. Pratikraman should be done if any violence through thoughts, speech and acts is committed towards any living being. Pratikraman should also be done for violating any of the five mahavratas (the five supreme vows of: ahimsanon-violence, satya-truth, achoriya - not stealing, aparigrahanon-greed, and bhramcharya-celibacy).
(P.11)
2. EVERY RELIGION MENTIONS PRATIKRAMAN
God has said that alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan, is the essence of relative religion. These have to be done instantaneously, you should not keep anything pending. If you hurt someone, keep a mental note of it and then do your alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan.
vow, 'I will never do that again. I promise that I shall not repeat the mistake again', is called pratyakhyan. When you do pratyakhyan in this way, in your mind, one layer of karma will be shed. And if the same atikraman should occur again, it is because of another layer of karma, so you should not panic but continue with your pratikramans.
(P.13) Questioner: What is alochana?
Dadashri: Alochana is to confess your misdeed as it is and exactly the way it happened to your guru or to a Gnani.
The amount of pratikraman one needs to do depends on the amount of atikraman one does. Atikraman includes deeds that are not acceptable in society, deeds that are condemned, and deeds that inflict pain on others. If any of this applies, pratikraman is necessary.
(P.14) You have to understand who binds the karmas. What is your name?
Questioner: My name is Chandulal.
Dadashri: Then the one who says, 'I am Chandulal' is the entity that binds karma. Karma are bound even during sleep, throughout the night. What is the reason behind this? It is because of the false accusation of who you are (You are really pure Self, but you say you are Chandulal) that karma are being charged. In reality you are not Chandulal, and yet you claim that you are. 'I am Chandulal' is a false accusation and with this belief you are continuously charging karma. With your conviction of 'I am Chandulal' comes a series of other wrong beliefs, 'I am her husband; his uncle; her father, their boss, etc.' Even in sleep you bind karma, which cannot be avoided, but if you purify your ego of its conviction of 'I am Chandulal', you will not bind as many
This instant, shoot-on-sight pratikraman is only possible when one is Self-realized, and is therefore able to see his own faults. However, if a person who has not attained the Self were to apply the principle of alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan in his daily life, it would still be beneficial for him, even though he does not understand it. Self-Realization will eventually come to him.
One is bound to attain Self-Realization if one's alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan are done with sincerity. (P.12)
Questioner: Pratikraman would be to repent. Is pratyakhyan to resolve never to repeat the mistake?
Dadashri: Yes. Sincere repentance is called pratikraman. Once pratikraman is done, the atikraman will not occur again. To