Pratikramana Freedom Through Apology and Repentance

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

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Pratikraman
Pratikraman
Dadashri: If you hurt the person, you will surely have to amend the situation. That is indeed your responsibility. Life is not meant for hurting anyone.
Questioner: Even then, if the matter cannot be settled to his satisfaction, how much of it is my responsibility?
Dadashri: If you can meet with the person face to face and apologize with your eyes, you should do so. However, if he taunts you instead, you should realize that you are not dealing with a noble person. You must still resolve it, but it need not be in his presence. If while asking for his forgiveness in person, he throws it back in your face, understand that you have made a mistake, but because he is not a noble person, you should not bow or belittle yourself to him.
(P.290) Questioner: If you have good intentions, do you still have to do pratikraman?
Dadashri: You must do pratikraman because of the hurt to the other person. If someone tells you, 'Oh, just look at how that woman is scolding her husband', you have to do pratikraman for having witnessed the event. You must do pratikraman for everything that comes before you. Your intentions may be as good as gold, but what good are they? Good intentions are not enough. Even though my own intentions are good. I still have to do pratikraman. Pratikraman has to be done for any mistake one makes. Everyone who has acquired Self-Realization has the intent of the salvation of the world, but that is simply not enough. Pratikraman must be done first and foremost. When you get stains on your clothes, do you not wash them off? Likewise these too are considered stains.
Questioner: If someone is doing something wrong and we caution him, what do we do if our speech hurts him?
Dadashri: You may be faced with the need to caution him, but because it is done through your ego, you have to do pratikraman.
Questioner: If I do not caution him, will he not get worse?
Dadashri: You have to caution him, but you must know how to do so. If you do not know how to caution him the right way, you will end up hurting him and therefore you must do pratikraman. When you caution him, he will indeed feel hurt, but if you keep doing pratikraman, within a few months your speech will begin to sound pleasant to him.
The caution that is associated with ego will hurt and this is the basis of flawed worldly interactions.
(P.291) Whenever I make fun of someone, I have to do pratikraman for that also. I am not excused from that.
Questioner: Yes but that's just joking around. Surely there is no problem with that.
Dadashri: No, but even then I have to do pratikraman. It is not so necessary for you, but it is imperative for me. If I did not do pratikraman, then the words from this tape-recorder (speech from the Gnani) would not come out as precise. (P.293)
I too used to make fun of all sorts of people, from the ordinary to very prominent and successful ones. Extremely intelligent people have a tendency to make fun of others. Is such an ego not futile? Is that not misuse one's intellect? It is a sign of misuse of intellect to make fun of others.
Questioner: What are the consequences of making fun of others?
Dadashri: It is better to slap someone than to make fun of