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[25] Understanding the Principles of Pratikraman
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Pratikraman
You? It is 'Chandubhai' that has to do it.
Questioner: Why does 'Chandubhai' have to do it? Dadashri: Why? Questioner: When everything is in the form of discharge?
Dadashri: No. Pratikraman has to be done if your conduct hurts anyone. If your action causes someone pain, then you have to do pratikraman, otherwise you do not have do anything
Questioner: But this 'Chandubhai' is a discharge, is he not? Then what is the need for pratikraman? I still do not understand that
Dadashri: Even pratikraman is a discharge. Saying, "What is the need for pratikraman?' is also discharge.
Questioner: So when one thinks, 'Why should I do so many pratikramans?' is that also a discharge?
Dadashri: That, too, is a discharge. Do not object to pratikraman. If you say or do something that hurts someone, do pratikraman. You should tell 'Chandubhai', 'Do pratikraman, and don't behave in a way that hurts people.'
Questioner: If "Chandubhai' becomes obstinate and says, *I do not want to do pratikraman"?
Dadashri: No problem. He will settle down in time, and then make him do pratikraman. Make him do a big pratikraman in the evening. If he becomes obstinate, then tell him to go to sleep.
Why Do Pratikraman? Questioner: Here in America, people immediately say, 'Sorry,' even when a mistake has been made unknowingly. Is that saying 'sorry' something like pratikraman?
Dadashri: That 'sorry' is not pratikraman, but it is a good thing. It is good because, in that way the other person will not have an attacking' intent in his mind. It will stop the attacking intent. So it is very good that he has learned to say 'sorry' to others. But there is nothing comparable to pratikraman.
Questioner: If the Self is the non-doer, then whether one does atikraman or pratikraman, what does it matter to 'me'? Do I not have to just keep 'seeing all that? (450)
Dadashri: You (the Self) continue to see who does the atikraman and tell him, 'Why did you do atikraman? Now do pratikraman for it. I would not have asked you to do pratikraman had you not done atikraman.' That is what You say to him.
Questioner: Do we do pratikraman so that the next life will be easy?
Dadashri: It is to cleanse everything. You are removing the stain immediately after it occurs, otherwise you will have to come back to wash it off. Wash off the stain. A stain occurs when you do atikraman. Whatever the color of the stain, wash it off and then you can relax. If 'Chandubhai' is being obstinate at that time, then wash the whole thing off at night. If five or seven or ten arikramans have occurred, then do collective pratikraman and cleanse them.
Questioner: Is doing prarikraman part of the fourth Agna (Dadashri's five directives prescribed after Self-realization) of 'settling with equanimity"?
Dadashri: Settling with equanimity and pratikraman have nothing to with each other. Settling of files is a different thing.
Pratikraman in the Akram Path
Questioner: One person had so much aversion to pratikraman that he told me that when you do pratikraman,
