Be careful about your deeds!

Maharaja Yudhisthira requested Vyāsdev to describe various sinful acts & their respective atonements

 

Vyāsdev said: Dear King, following sinful persons must atone for their misdeeds:

-A brahmacäri that gets up from bed after sunrise, or who goes to sleep while the sun is setting

-One who has rotten nails or black teeth; one whose younger brother has married first, or who weds before his elder brother has done so; one who kills a brahmana; one who speaks ill of others; one who marries a girl before her elder sister has married; one who failed to fulfil a vow; one who teaches Vedic knowledge to an unworthy person; one who sells meat; one who drinks liquor; one who charges money for teaching Vedic wisdom; one who kills a woman; one who kills an animal; one who sets fire to a house; one who lives by deceitful means; one who lives in disobedience of his guru's orders

 

He further said: One who breaks a promise; one who eats forbidden food; one who deserts a person who has appealed to him for protection; one who neglects to properly maintain servants; one who fails to give Dakshina when required; one who humiliates a brahmana; one who quarrels with his father and one who refuses to beget offspring in the womb of his wedded wife

 

There are certain circumstances under which these above-mentioned acts can be performed without one's being touched by a sinful reaction. It is not sinful to kill a brahmana who has attacked one with the intent to kill. It is not sinful to drink alcohol when advised by a physician. It is not sinful to steal for the sake of one's guru in times of dire emergency. It is not sinful to lie for the purpose of saving one's life or the life of another, for the benefit of one's guru, or for obtaining a wife. It is not sinful for the younger brother to marry first if his elder brother has taken sannyasa or has fallen from the Vedic principles. It is not sinful to cast off an adulterous wife, or to dismiss an incompetent servant

 

If one kills a brahmana he can atone for that sin in various ways. The 12-year prescription involves eating only one meal a day of food that has been acquired by begging, doing everything oneself without relying upon servants, sleeping on the bare ground, giving up all malice toward others, and openly admitting before everyone the sin that he committed

 

The 6-year atonement is to eat very, very frugally and the one-year penance is to eat only once a month. If one fasts completely, he atones for the sin in a shorter time, and one can be immediately cleansed by giving away all his property to the brahmanas, performing the asvamedha-yajña, or by reciting the Vedas while walking continuously for a hundred yojanas

 

If, on the verge of death, one gives away 1000 cows to deserving persons, he is at once freed from all kinds of sins. If one drinks liquor, the atonement is to give up the habit, give some land in charity & sincerely adopt a humble attitude removing all the doubts that have arisen in your heart

 

Vyāsdev said Bhisma has personally associated with all the great demigods, headed by Indra & has received instructions from many great sages, including Brhaspati and Sanat-kumara

 

Yudhisthira said: Dear Grandfather, how can I dare approach Bhima after causing his death by unfair means and then slaughtering all the Kauravas?

 

Sri Krsna said: Dear Yudhisthira, you should not cling so tenaciously to your grief. Instead, execute the wishes of Vyāsdev and your brothers

 

Krsna says:

karmaṇo hy api boddhavyaṁ boddhavyaṁ ca vikarmaṇaḥ
akarmaṇaś ca boddhavyaṁ gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ

 

The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore, one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is and what inaction is

 

It is very important for all of us to understand the distinctions between action, inaction and unauthorized actions. One has to apply oneself to such an analysis of action, reaction and perverted actions because it is a very difficult subject matter. But work done as sacrifice to Krsna is authorised action having no repercussions.

 

Do we do this? Thoughts?

#gameoflife

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