Pratikramana Freedom Through Apology and Repentance

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

Page 26

Pratikraman
Pratikraman
39
pratikraman in his name. The suffering for you in this life is the effect of your atikraman from your past life. What were the causes behind your suffering today? In your previous life you did atikraman against that person and as a result in this life you have to suffer the consequences. If you do pratikraman now, in the presence of whichever God you worship, you will erase your mistakes. Repeated pratikramans will wipe off the many errors that have been caused in these sticky relationships.
If a man dislikes his wife, he will see many faults in her and will harp on her negative points. This constant faultfinding leads to abhorrence. This abhorrence results in fear. He will experience fear in certain interactions with her. So when he sees her, he feels a sense of suffocation and bondage. We all tend to be afraid of those or that which we dislike intensely. All this is the result of abhorrence. To break free from this feeling of contempt, one has to keep asking for forgiveness. Even though the other person may not be aware of it, you have to continue asking for forgiveness from within
(P.141) Life is nothing but a play. In a play if you assume that the people who play the role of your wife and children are yours to take home, will it be appropriate? It is fine if you introduce your son and say, 'This is my son Shataayu', but say it as you would in a drama. The reason you have to do pratikraman is because you have taken all these relatives to be real. You must do pratikraman because all along you have acted as if they are really your children and wife. If you did not have this belief then pratikraman would not be necessary. With this belief comes attachment and abhorrence and with pratikraman you are liberated. Dada shows you how to do alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan that will liberate you.
(P.142) No one has the power to bother anyone and no one has
the power to endure. Everyone is merely a puppet going about his or her business on the stage of this world. With pratikraman these puppets learn to live in peace and harmony. No matter how insane the other person may be, he will come to his senses through your pratikraman.
(P.143) If you do not get along at all with a person, if you do pratikraman for him all day long and for several days, you will be able to get along with him and he will seek your company. All strife and bitterness is because of your atikraman faults. (P.144)
Questioner: Sometimes I feel unappreciated and disheartened. I feel that no matter how much I do for that person, he keeps insulting me.
Dadashri: You must do his pratikraman. This is the way of the world. There are so many different kinds of people who will hold you back from your liberation.
Questioner: What should that pratikraman be for?
Dadashri: Pratikraman should be done because of your past life cause which has come into effect now. And it should be done because you are now becoming instrumental in him binding a new karma.
The world will not allow anyone to be liberated. The bondage of this life is such that only pratikraman can release you. For this reason, Lord Mahavir has given us alochana, pratikraman and pratyakhyan in just one sentence. There is no way out. When is one able to do pratikraman correctly? It is when he attains the knowledge of the Real Self from a Gnani Purush. With this knowledge you become aware of the Self, and this awareness will allow you to do pratikraman and be released from the burden of any liability.
(P.145)