Is the Non-retaliation for Harm Done to Us, a Sign of Our Patience or Weakness?

O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,

[Several devotees from various places, ranging from illiterate to highly qualified, came to Swami, seeking the clarification of their doubts in spiritual knowledge. Some of the prominent questions, along with the clarifications given by Swami, are given here.]

[Q. What is the meaning of ‘ends justifying means’ and vice-versa? If we show our second cheek on receiving slap on our first cheek, will it mean our patience or weakness to retort against the injustice?]

Swami replied:- There are three stages:-

1) Nivrutti:- Highest souls like Prahlaada belonging to the higher level of nivrutti, depending on God only for worldly matters and spiritual matters, possessing extreme patience without a trace of revenge, represent pure Nivrutti. Higher souls like King Janaka affected by pravrutti to a little extent related with God for spiritual matters and depending on ethical scriptures of Pravrutti for worldly matters, represent the lower state of Nivrutti. For Prahlaada, God is greater than justice and for King Janaka, God and justice are equal.

2) Pravrutti:- High souls like Yudhisthira, depending on the ethical scriptures of Pravrutti mainly and related to God without breaking the ethical laws, represent the higher level of Pravrutti. Low souls like Vaali depending on the ethical scriptures to major extent and doing sins sometimes due to misunderstanding of the ethical scriptures, represent the lower level of Pravrutti. For Yudhisthira, justice is greater than God. For Vaali, doing sin for the sake of ego is greater than God and justice.

3) Dushpravrutti:- Lower souls like Duryodhana depending on the ethical scriptures to a minor extent and doing sins for selfishness represent the higher level of dushpravrutti. Lowest souls like Ravana neglecting completely the ethical scriptures and doing sins due to saddism even in the absence of selfish benefit represent the lower level of dushpravrutti.

Prahlaada> King Janaka> Yudhisthira> Vaali> Duryodhana> Raavana. It is easy to convert Janaka in to Prahlaada while it is difficult to convert Yudhisthira into Prahlaada. The difficulty increases as we proceed in the descending order. It is almost impossible to convert Raavana in to Prahlaada.

In this way, different types of souls exist at different levels having different psychologies. The advices given to a soul must be planned in such a way so that the advices will not relate to far distant levels, in which case the adaptability of the soul to the advice will be easily possible. If you give advice of Nivrutti level to the soul belonging to Dushpravrutti level, it is of no trace of use like showing Sun to a born blind person. Similarly, you can’t make the soul belonging to the Nivrutti level to fall to the Dushpravrutti level by giving any sort of wrong advice. The soul belonging to the Pravrutti level may rise to the Nivrutti level or may fall to the Dushpravrutti level based on correct and wrong advices respectively. Hence, your advice must be towards upper direction (from Dushpravrutti to Pravrutti to Nivrutti gradually) minimising the distance between levels as far as possible. Hence, the advice can be clearly planned with respect to a specific soul on studying all its angles.

To formulate an advice in general is very delicate. This complication is mentioned by the Gita in judging any situation (Gahanaa karmano gatih).

Whether you have to follow the path of ‘means justifying ends’ or ‘ends justifying means’ depends on your sharp analysis of the whole situation in all angles. Krishna followed the path of ‘ends justifying means’ because He is omniscient God knowing that Kauravaas are demons and do sins always as fresh case only. An ordinary human being shall not imitate God because its judgement is always partial bending to selfishness only and hence, shall not exploit this rule by stabbing a good person from backside claiming that person as bad since the good person harmed him! Rama also is omniscient God and killed bad Vaali by hiding Himself behind a tree because there was no option other than this in the case of Vaali. You are not omniscient like Rama and Krishna to do such acts supported by the rule that ‘ends justify means’. An ordinary human being shall take the help of Sadguru to take decision in such personal cases as said by the Veda (Atha yadi te...Braahmanaah sammarshinah...). You should not take law in to your hands in personal cases. Regarding punishing the souls of Dushpravrutti level harming the society, you can react as per your efficiency. If you are not efficient, you must pray God to punish such demons in human form. Patience is confined to the souls of middle level (Pravrutti) and you shall never misunderstand the souls of upper level (Nivrutti).

Regarding your reaction to the middle level souls, you can follow one of the two paths:- 1) showing the second cheek to the enemy for the second slap and 2) giving a counter slap to the enemy, based on the study of the nature of your enemy. If there is some element of good knowledge in the enemy, the first path gives good result. If your enemy is totally bad, the second path is proper. Mahaatma Gandhi followed the first path towards British people because those people are Christians following the philosophy of Jesus, who prayed God to excuse the cruel people crucifying Him! Due to such divine background of their culture, the British people bowed to Mahaatma Gandhi following the first path. Shri Subhash Chandra Bose belonged to the second path, which was not necessary in the case of Christians. Had the enemies been cruel souls without any background of true spiritual knowledge, the second case of Bose could have been correct as told by Kalidaasa that a bad person can be pacified by counter harming only and not by goodness shown in return (Shaamyet pratyapakaarena, nopakaarena durjanah). This is also told by a saying that the dog will understand your communication only in its language!

(While Swami was dictating these two messages in Hyderabad to Shri PVNM Sharma for typing, Shri Phani in Vijayawada had a shocking vision with very bright light in which Swami was seen with golden colour radiating golden light sitting in golden chariot. Shri Phani phoned to Swami asking for the reason of this vision. Swami told him that He is forwarding these two messages to him as the reply. Swami told that the golden light represents the best supreme most spiritual knowledge.)

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