[Advaita-l] Pratyavaaya paapam

[Krishnamurthy Ramakrishna]

Ramanathan P [mailto:p_ramanathan at yahoo.com] wrote on Wednesday, October 29 


I agree that a person in the Order not doing the svadharma may only mean
they get kicked out of the Order, next time around, born in some other
religion and so on. That possibility I interpret as that it is Ishvara's
wish that the person selectively chosen for the Order abides by that,
following the rules to the letter. 

Yes! That may well be true. It is His grace and His grace alone that lifts a
jIva. 
I have heard a quote from bhAgavata purANa : yasyAnugraham icchAmi, tasya
vittam harAmyaham - I will steal his wealth, whom I want to offer grace.
However, it is at the door knocking by the jIva, that His grace becomes
available and that door knocking is following our prescribed dharma as His
service. Look at the following quotes:

YamEvaisha vriNutE, tEne labhyah  (kaTopanishat-1.2.23) - Whom he begs, from
Him alone it is obtained.

yAnti devavratA dEvAn pitrUn yAnti pitruvratAh
bhUtAni yAnti bhUtEjyah yAnti madyAjinIOpi mAm - gIta 9.25
 - The worshippers of the dEvas reach the dEvas, the worshippers of the
ancestors go to the ancestors; the worshippers of the living beings go to
the living beings and the worshippers of Me reach Me.
There are several more verses in gIta that conveys the need for the jIva to
worship Him for His grace.

It is NOT Ishvara's wish that the person selectively chosen for the Order
abides by that, following the rules to the letter; it is the other way
around. It is by following the prescribed dharma, that Ihswara selects him
for His grace. It may not even be necessary to follow the dharma to the
letter always, if it is offered as a service to the Lord, for He says

nEhAbhikramanAshOsti pratvAyO na vidyatE
svalpamapyasya dharmasya trAyatE mahatO bhayAt - gIta 2.40

In offering the karma as a service (karmayOga), even if there is a lapse in
the procedure, there is no pratyavAya (sin or adverse effect).  Even a
little practice protects him from fear.

Regards,
K. Ramakrishna.