Pratikramana Full Version

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Mahavideh Foundation

Page 71

[4] How Amazing is the Awareness of the Gnani Purush!
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'We' cannot say something 'is' when 'it is not' and 'we' cannot say 'it is not' when 'it is'; and that is why some people feel hurt by what 'we' say. If 'we' were to say something exists when it does not, you will be deluded; and if 'we' speak the way we do, people feel slighted and question, "Why does he speak that way? Therefore, every day 'we' have to do pratikraman for all the people we have to speak about in this way! No matter what, no one should be hurt. If a person says there is a ghost in the banyan tree, and I tell him there is no such thing as a ghost in the banyan tree, that person will feel hurt and so, in turn, I have to do pratikraman. Pratikraman has to be done always without fail! 'We' have not come here to hurt anyone. 'We' have come to make people happy, but 'we' cannot give happiness to both the gnanis (Self-realized) and the agnanis (non-Self-realized). Therefore, we have to do pratikraman for the other side.
Questioner: Many times there is ignorance (agnan), but it manifests in Gnan's clothing.
Dadashri: If ignorance arises, it will not last long, not even for a second. And here, it will not last at all. That is because... what is 'our' Knowledge (Gnan) like? It is the Knowledge of demarcation; demarcation between Knowledge and ignorance and so it will not work here at all.
Then if he is hurt, 'we' have to do pratikraman for it. 'We' have to turn things around as much as 'we' can by telling him, 'Dear brother, I am doing pratikraman if I did anything wrong.'
You cannot hurt any human being at all. You may have a misunderstanding with him, but as far as he is concerned, his opinion is based on his understanding, is it not? You may feel that he does not understand, but according to him, he believes he understands so how can we hurt him?
Then There is No Pratikraman Questioner: Now, if we continue to understand that the
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other person is acting in accordance to the unfolding of his karma, then there is no reason to do pratikraman, is there?
Dadashri: That is a good state, is it not? But pratikraman is only necessary if you had a negative inner intent (bhaav) towards him.
Questioner: And if a negative bhaav towards him did not arise, then I don't need to, right?
Dadashri: No.
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Questioner: We do not consider him as being in the wrong at all.
Dadashri: Then you do not have to.
The whole world is flawless (nirdosh). Not even for a moment has any living being (jiva) become at fault (doshit). The fault (dosh) you see in others is due to a fault in your own self. And it is because you see the other person at fault that kashay occurs; otherwise there would be no kashay.
So the fact that you see a person at fault is definitely the wrong vision. It is like a blind person running into another blind person. When a blind man bumps into something, should you not realize that he is blind and that is why he is bumping into things? What is the reason for bumping and clashing so much? It is because he cannot see.
Otherwise, there is no one doshit (at fault) in this world. Kashays remain because of the faults one sees.
Truth-Untruth is Relative
Questioner: Why should one do pratikraman if what he says is true?
Dadashri: This so called truth is itself untrue. Whatever truth there is, it is all untrue. Which point do you consider to be the truth? I will show you that it is not the truth.