No. No one can escape experiencing the results of past actions (karma), not even God!
Didn’t Lord Dhanvantri (God of medicine) suffer? Krishna had to face severe stomach ache once. Shiva suffered. Vishnu had to take on an incarnation for that. Once a body is taken, all afflictions will come. We have to suffer for our past bad actions. There is no escape.
Many are wondering how Swamiji could get severe unbearable tooth trouble. Even I wondered. The pain was so unbearable that it was difficult even to smile. But how could I stop smiling when I see people? Can I say- I can’t smile because I have a tooth ache. But I smiled for them and I smiled with them. In this process I forgot my pain.
Slowly I recollected that as a child I had troubled many snakes. I had sinned. Many may be surprised. They may doubt- how could Swamiji sin? But yes, as a child Swamiji used to catch snakes, pull out their poisonous tooth and then set them free. The intention was good but the act was not. Once it so happened that a girl died due to snakebite. As a small boy Swamiji was extremely angry at the snake and vowed to remove the poisonous tooth from a 1000 snakes. My aunts Gowramma and Chikkamma were a witness to this. I am suffering because of that.
I advise you all not to mistreat animals. It is a sin. Do not kill even ants or cockroaches or rats. Use mechanisms to prevent their entry. If at all they come in, catch them and leave them at a far away place. Prevention is better than killing. Many take pride in killing mosquitoes. But they do not realize that even the dead mosquito has relatives like a mother or grandmother waiting for it. Use mosquito repellents.
I could not remember my childhood actions. Even then the sins had to be paid for. Sin is the root cause of all diseases. Our sins get wiped out when we suffer. You should not get scared of suffering. Finish it.
- Bhaktimala Sep and Oct 2002.
