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[2] Every Religion Supports Pratikraman
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Pratikraman
swachhand actions guided by one's belief that, 'I am Chandulal') and, therefore, repentance is necessary.
Do you think the Lord would interfere in such matters? He is just the Knower-Seer and in eternal bliss. He Sees and Knows everything. Do you think He inspires one in all this? When the tuber (inner complex of karma effect) of stealing sprouts within, one will have thoughts of stealing. If that tuber is large, he will have many thoughts and he may even go ahead and steal. He will also tell you how cleverly he went about stealing. When he does that, he nourishes that tuber. With nourishment, new seeds continue to be planted and the tuber of stealing grows bigger. Say there is another thief and even though he steals, it bothers him, 'What I am doing is wrong. but what else can I do? I have to feed my family.' He steals but he repents sincerely and, in doing so, his tuber of stealing does not get nourishment. And for his next life, he plants the 'seeds' of not stealing and, consequently, he will not steal in his next life.
Repent Heartily Nature forgives a man who repents after he steals. When he repents, nature does not count it as an offence or sin. People, on the other hand, will punish him and he will have to suffer the consequences of his actions in this life.
Questioner: But that is what everyone believes - that it is wrong to tell a lie, to eat meat, to misbehave and yet people do all those things. Why is that?
Dadashri: If a person was to repent heartily, his faults would eventually disappear. But people speak superficially. Although you may commit a terrible mistake, if you sincerely repent for it, it will not occur again. If it occurs again, it does not matter as long as you continue to repent.
Questioner: So is it possible for a man to improve? (24)
Dadashri:Yes, very much so. But there has to be someone to improve him. An M.D. or an F.R.C.S. doctor will not work there. You need an improver and not an entangler.
If a mistake occurs even after a lot of repenting, one will feel, 'Why does this occur even after repenting so much?' Actually, with sincere repentance, the mistakes will definitely go away.
Pratikraman brings about a state of lightness. The moment one makes that mistake again, the repenting starts.
When do the effects of karma caused in past life (sanskar) change? Either when you repent day and night, or when you attain our Gnan.
Repenting is no ordinary thing. Repentance should occur.
Questioner: What if one does all kinds of bad and negative things all day long and then repents at night?
Dadashri: Yes, provided he repents heartily.
Questioner: What if he repents and makes the same mistakes again the next day?
Dadashri: Yes, if he repents heartily then his work will be done.
Questioner: The repentance that occurs, is it because of the planning (intent; bhaav) from the past life?
Dadashri: Repentance occurs because of the knowledge (gnan) in this life.
Questioner: What should we do if we have done some negative things in life and we feel bad about them, but there is no repenting?
Dadashri: The fact that you feel bad about it is repentance itself, is it not? You can never feel bad about anything without
