Posted on: 05 Feb 2021
[A question by Smt. Yashoda]
Swāmi replied: Karma is extraordinarily complex to understand. You need not know it and you are not the judge. God is the ultimate Judge and He is omniscient. He knows everything and He gives the correct result of every action at the correct time. Suppose Dharma Rāja killed a certain king in battle. It is possible that Dharma Raja had been killed by that king in the previous birth. If this is the case, then Dharma Rāja will not be punished for it. This killing just becomes a retaliatory karma. If the king had not killed Dharma Rāja in previous birth, then Dharma Rāja would be punished for killing that king. By observing the result (karma phala), we can conclude what might have happened in the past.
Suppose, you have beaten some person once. If the person had beaten you once in the past birth, then this action (karma) would become a retaliatory karma and you would not be punished. If the person had not beaten you in the past life, then you would be punished with 10 beatings, as a consequence. Remember that justice is always maintained by God’s administration. Suppose the person has beaten you and you do not know whether it is a new karma or a retaliatory karma. When the person receives 10 beatings, you will understand that God is punishing him for his new karma. If he does not receive any beatings or punishment, you should conclude that you had beaten him in the past. When the punishment is not given, some ignorant people start thinking that justice is not maintained in this world. Some go even further to conclude that God does not exist. The reality is that we do not know the background. So, it is best to remain calm, without thinking of revenge. If you take revenge, you can beat him only once. But if you leave it to God, then He will punish the person 10 times more.
The best example here is Draupadī. She faced a lot of trouble from the wicked Kauravās such as her insult and attempted disrobing (vastrāpaharaṇam) in the court, etc. So, the Lord had decided to punish the Kauravas for their sins. Instead of leaving the revenge to God, she always provoked her husbands to take revenge. She asked them to get the blood of Duśśāsana, one of the Kauravas, and apply it to her hair. She tried to stop Lord Kṛṣṇa from making the peace treaty with the Kauravas because she wanted the war to take place. Because of her unnecessary vengeful attitude, she lost all her five sons in the war. If she had not spoken such provoking words, then, her sons would have been protected and they would have become the kings. Finally, it was Subhadrā’s son who became the king.
The Lord had already decided to kill the Kauravas and He would have made her husband avenge her insult, in any case. Had she remained calm, without provoking anyone to take revenge, the Lord would have killed the Kauravas and Draupadi’s sons would have become kings. Remember that no mistake can happen in the administration of God. It is an insult to the Supreme God if justice is not maintained in His administration. You do not need to bother about the administration of this world. A dog was running under a horse-cart and a sage asked her to stop and rest for some time. The dog replied that the cart would stop if she stopped running. The dog was under the false impression that she was carrying the cart on her back! Hence, we should remain calm and leave everything to God, getting detached from any false sense of doership.
If you remain peaceful after being harmed by others, God will give you a compensation in return. If you try to take revenge, you will not only miss the compensation from God, but also get punished for your vengeance. God is a Divine Father of all souls. He punishes us with an intention to reform us and not to take revenge on us. So, He does not punish sinners immediately. He gives them some time for reformation. During this time, you might get worried, thinking that the sinner has escaped the punishment. You might also slip into thinking that God does not exist. But instead of worrying, just stay calm and take the compensation from God, when it is given. It will be a benefit to you. You get no benefit when the other person is punished. So, stop thinking about it. Dharma Rāja was calm even when he lost his kingdom and went to exile peacefully. So, Dharma Rāja was not just given his share of half the Kuru kingdom. He was given the entire kingdom! He received not only his justified share, but also a huge compensation for being patient, without any vengeful attitude towards his enemies.