- Everyone must reap the consequences of his past actions. One has to accept that there are tendencies from past births (samskaras) and the fruits of these actions are now being played out (prarabdha karma).
- The fact is that one reaps the fruit of those past actions which are producing results in this life. One has to remain in the body until the results of those past actions wear out.
- If someone is pure in character, he thinks only of God. He likes nothing else. Some people are born with pure sattva because of their past actions. By striving to act selflessly, one finally attains pure sattva.
- We are all subject to prakriti. Nobody can evade the fruit of his actions! One has to reap the prarabdha! Why, when one repeats God’s Name, meditates on Him and surrenders to Him.
- Certainly one must, to some extent, reap the fruit of one’s actions. But by virtue of the repetition of God’s Name, a lot of the bondage of actions is dispelled. Maybe one had to be born blind in seven births because of his actions of previous births. But after a dip in the Ganges, which brings liberation, maybe this fellow remained blind for the rest of his life, but he was not born another six times.
Previous Life
- The scriptures say that one who has given in charity in a previous life gains wealth in this life.
- Sins vanish with a dip in the Ganges and one attains liberation. But one is not cured of one’s blindness. Of course, one does not have to be reborn again and again to reap the fruit of sinful actions, which would otherwise have resulted in several rebirths. One has to live till the momentum of the actions of previous births has been exhausted. However, the impetus of current actions does not give rise to future births.
- According to the Gita, one becomes what one thinks of at the hour of death. King Bharata quit his mortal frame remorsefully repeating, ‘Deer, deer’ because he was grieving over his pet deer. So he was born as a deer in the next birth. For this reason, day and night one should practice repetition of the Name, meditation, worship and other spiritual exercises. Only then, by virtue of practice, will one think of the Lord at the hour of death. That is how one attains the real nature of God after death.