Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic

[dattaswami]

Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic

Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the world is facing now due to the present horrible virus?



Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A king passed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. The citizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizens violated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam) present in the kingdom. Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king a lot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supreme power? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even though they never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow the rule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial.

If you replace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will be able to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divine constitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Every soul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God. The constitution recommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If one does not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going to heaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishment includes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it also includes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highly intense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute). The present calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, it is indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world.

Following justice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛtti or worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛtti or spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul from the punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will not stop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by souls in worldly life (pravṛtti). Pravṛtti and nivṛtti are independent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti. Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldly justice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, one certainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infection even in the present epidemic.

The three main sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” are given below and briefly explained:

1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin.

2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin.

3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin.

These three main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical, following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximum expectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the people of a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can be avoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make the following resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer or resolve is as follows:

Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doing sins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of living ethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public also imbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society around me. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including me will, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin.
Even atheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make this resolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept the inevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. This mere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even the world leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, the final Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga) given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world with unimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of the present virus!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDwNHtfWinc

[phyllo]

The innocent and righteous suffer and they also fall in battle.

This can easily be seen. The most obvious is the suffering of young children.

Therefore, either God's punishment is unjust or this is not a punishment from God at all.

[dattaswami]

The innocent and righteous suffer and they also fall in battle.

This can easily be seen. The most obvious is the suffering of young children.

Therefore, either God's punishment is unjust or this is not a punishment from God at all.

Any illness can be cured by the omnipotent God. But God is also omniscient. The sin is excused only if there is a real reformation in the soul. Real reformation is practically proved through the non-repetition of the sin. The omniscient God must be thoroughly convinced that the soul is truly reformed. You can deceive a human being by acting as if you have reformed by weeping, crying, singing devotional songs and so on. But all these pretenses (actings) are useless before God. He can never be convinced by such false actions and false words of repentance. If there is a real reformation in the soul, all these dramatic actions are not necessary for God.

The real reformation of the soul is immediately recognized by God and the sins are excused by Him because there is no need for further punishment once real reformation has been achieved. If God is convinced in the case of a particular soul, it means that the soul must have truly reformed. Such a soul alone will not repeat the sins in the future.

A mentally retarded patient is a condemned soul in the view of God. It means that God does not have the slightest hope that the soul will get reformed. Such a soul undergoes punishment throughout his or her life. Such long and endless suffering is intended to reform the soul unconsciously. Reformation is possible in such a soul in the form of an aversion developed to the punishment. This strongly-impressed aversion to the suffering may prevent the soul from committing sins in the next birth when the soul is given a normal life.

So, in view of the prevention of sinful behavior in the future birth, the soul’s continuous suffering in this birth is helpful. Also, sometimes, the kith and kin of such a soul might sincerely pray to God. As a result, the soul might attain a healthier state in which the soul can get reformed. The omniscient God knows very well which souls have some possibility of getting reformed and which souls do not. Souls with absolutely no hope of reformation will be born as a mentally retarded animal, like a mad dog.

All these are ‘administrative details’ regarding how the various cases of souls are handled. Each soul has performed different types of good and bad deeds. Knowing exactly how each case is handled is unnecessary for us. All we need to understand is that God is the best judge and the best administrator. He always helps each and every soul in the best-possible way. Only when the administrator is a human being, is there a need for analyzing the person’s way of administration.

The person might err in his or her way of administration, in which case, we could suggest a better way. That is why even a country’s constitution, which is framed by human beings, often gets amended. Through such amendments, errors get rectified. But there is not the slightest possibility of even a trace of error in the divine constitution. So, there is no point in breaking our heads on these issues, which are being administered in the most meritorious way.

God is not only omnipotent and omniscient, but He is also an infinite ocean of kindness. He is the divine Father of all souls. He must have chosen the kindest-possible way to save any soul. All of us are mere brothers or sisters to our neighboring souls but God is the Father of all souls (Ahaṁ bījapradaḥ pitā—Gita). A father is always far kinder to his child than the brothers and sisters of the child. From all these angles, it is far far better to leave the administration and reformation of other souls to God. Instead, we need to concentrate on our own reformation. This is an extremely important point which every soul in this world should understand. Our focus should be on recognizing our own defects and reforming ourselves. This is the best and wisest path.

The Divine Father is taking the best care of each soul. Even the punishments given by God here on earth and hereafter in hell, only indicate His anxiety to reform the sinful soul, which is His child. Hell is the reflection of God’s highest kindness, which helps in reforming souls. Hell is not the reflection of His anger or desire for revenge. If we understand this very subtle point, we will be very peaceful about things taking place in this world. There is no error taking place in the divine administration. Everything taking place in this world is the result of the most perfect working of God’s wonderful administration. No soul can even dream of running the world in a better way than the way it is being run. It is our utter ignorance that causes us to misunderstand God and stray (stay) away from the path of self-purification.

We are ignorant of the deeds of other souls. We are ignorant of the most wonderful divine administration working in the background. We are ignorant of God’s supreme talents and capabilities in administering and reforming souls. Above all, we are ignorant of the supreme kindness of God towards all souls.

We are worried about things, about which we need not be worried at all! People were worried about Jesus when He was carrying the cross. He told them not to worry about Him. He was under the direct supervision of the kindest Lord. Instead, He told them to worry about themselves and their children. He might have suffered for a few hours, but He was going to sit forever on the right lap of the Divine Father! These people, who were worried about Him, might be living happily on earth for a little while, but they were going to be thrown into the liquid fire forever along with their future generations! So, who should be worried? The spectators or Jesus?

A person may finish off the punishment of his or her sin by suffering for it here. The person may then get a wonderful new divine birth in the immediate future. Another person, who is wasting his time in sympathizing with this suffering person, instead of focusing on his own reformation, may finally get thrown into the liquid fire forever! Hence, it is always advisable to focus on self-rectification than unnecessarily wasting time in investigating and judging God’s administration of this world.

[dattaswami]

The innocent and righteous suffer and they also fall in battle.

This can easily be seen. The most obvious is the suffering of young children.

Therefore, either God's punishment is unjust or this is not a punishment from God at all.

Punishment given for a sin is only to change the mind of the soul and purify it. There is no trace of revenge in this. The hell is an indication of the intensive love of God to the souls through which God wants to reform the souls. The hell indicates the hectic effort of God put on the soul to reform it and not to leave the soul for its fate.

A father may leave his son since he is not changing inspite of all his efforts. But in the hell God puts serious effort and succeeds to change the soul. Therefore, even thousands of fathers cannot be equal to God. God is not leaving the soul without changing it and this point is indicated by the punishment and hell.

Therefore, there is no point of excusing the Prarabhdas if this true basis is understood. God will try to change the soul through preaching as far as possible. Punishment in the hell is the last resort. Once the soul is reformed all the sins are smashed since there is neither the necessity of preaching nor the necessity of punishment.

The Divine Father is taking the best care of each soul. Even the punishments given by God here on earth and hereafter in hell, only indicate His anxiety to reform the sinful soul, which is His child. Hell is the reflection of God’s highest kindness, which helps in reforming souls. Hell is not the reflection of His anger or desire for revenge. If we understand this very subtle point, we will be very peaceful about things taking place in this world. There is no error taking place in the divine administration. Everything taking place in this world is the result of the most perfect working of God’s wonderful administration. No soul can even dream of running the world in a better way than the way it is being run. It is our utter ignorance that causes us to misunderstand God and stray (stay) away from the path of self-purification. We are ignorant of the deeds of other souls. We are ignorant of the most wonderful divine administration working in the background. We are ignorant of God’s supreme talents and capabilities in administering and reforming souls. Above all, we are ignorant of the supreme kindness of God towards all souls.
We are worried about things, about which we need not be worried at all! People were worried about Jesus when He was carrying the cross. He told them not to worry about Him. He was under the direct supervision of the kindest Lord. Instead, He told them to worry about themselves and their children. He might have suffered for a few hours, but He was going to sit forever on the right lap of the Divine Father! These people, who were worried about Him, might be living happily on earth for a little while, but they were going to be thrown into the liquid fire forever along with their future generations! So, who should be worried? The spectators or Jesus?
A person may finish off the punishment of his or her sin by suffering for it here. The person may then get a wonderful new divine birth in the immediate future. Another person, who is wasting his time in sympathizing with this suffering person, instead of focusing on his own reformation, may finally get thrown into the liquid fire forever! Hence, it is always advisable to focus on self-rectification than unnecessarily wasting time in investigating and judging God’s administration of this world.



All the punishments are only for reformation of the soul and not for revenge. The hell is created by God not with vengeance against sinners but due to kindness to reform the souls. God is always kind to reform the souls, which are His children since the souls are created by Him.

The father will never have even a trace of vengeance towards his issues. Jesus always addressed God as father and He propagated this concept by saying that all your sins will be excused by God if you are reformed. Practical knowledge, the practical realization, which is the reformation, will cancel all your previous bad deeds or sins as told in Gita (Jnanaagnih….). Except this one way, there is no other way to cancel the sins and escape from all the present problems in the world and future torture in the hell.

If you are not doing any sin, you are excused for all past sins

The results of all your good actions will be separate and will not interfere with the cancellation of sins. God will give you good results for all your prayers and any prayer will not cancel even a trace of your sin. Similarly, your charity.

If these good actions can reform you, then, your sins will be cancelled. Therefore, reformation of the soul is the only way by which God is pleased to cancel your sins. Even if you do not believe in God, it does not matter. If you are not doing any sin, you are excused for all past sins and you will live with immense happiness in the world and after death also.

If you are doing a sin, you are going against the will of God

You cannot please God by prayers and service simultaneously doing sins. If you are doing a sin, you are going against the will of God and you are insulting God. You cannot please and insult God simultaneously. Therefore, every devotee and servant of God should be careful about the concept of the sin and about the only path to cancel the sin.