That is because it is sufferings!
KARMA/ SUFFERING
What is Prarabdha Karma? How does it interfere in one’s life?
Everything in one’s life happens because of Prarabdha Karma and nothing else. So it is not a question of interference in one’s life, it is that which drives one’s life.
Why do God fearing people seem to suffer more than others?
A doctor administers anesthesia only to a patient who needs to undergo an operation. Likewise the Lord blesses with Bhakti, those people who need to work out their severe Karmas so that the effects of their severe karma do not affect them much.
Why do we get sufferings in life? Why can’t God create a world that has no sufferings, or better not perform Creation at all, at the first place?
Let us assume that someone comes to me and I tell him that I am his saviour and that it is me who has been protecting him so long. He immediately would ask me for explanation. I go to say that as per his karma, he should have died at this point of time or some accident should have befallen, but I have nullified his bad karma and protected him.
Even if this were true, the person would laugh at me and call me a bluff. But, if he encounters a dangerous situation and comes out of it without any problems, it is then that he would realize the truth.
It is easy to question after an event has happened, but our mind does not realize the invisible protection that keeps away harm. That is quite the nature of the mind.
So, if there is no suffering, we don’t realize the protection. That is why we get sufferings.
What is the difference between God and Karma?
Karma is the ‘Jada’ (lifeless) and the bondage. God is the pure Consciousness and Supreme Self and is free from all bondages.
It is said that we are all instruments in Lord’s hands. When everything is decided/done by Him, why do we have so many bad things happening? Is it not done by Him? Then why are we suffering for things done by Him as though they are done by us?
Because of your ‘I’.
It is said that human birth is rare and that it comes by only after millions of years of performing merits. But we see some humans in a pathetic state, not only very poor but, some a few of them treated worse than animals. If they had accrued merits in their previous births to be born as a human, why are they in this state? Some animals, like dogs live a posh life in a rich man’s home! Why is it so?
By performing a particular good deed, there is a particular merit that one accrues. Some good deeds fetch a good wife, some other fetches riches, beauty, fame, long life, health and so on. This is true for sins too. A particular sin committed results in poverty, yet another results in childlessness, mental imbalance, cowardice, disrepute and so on.
So if one does the good deeds that fetch him human birth, he is born as a human. He might not have done enough ‘punya’ to enjoy a posh and comfortable life.
Why does God make us suffer even though we are good? The general response I get is that it is because of the Karma done in previous births. It makes us feel that God is cruel. Mahans call him a sea of compassion, and like our mother, full of mercy. Then why does He not forgive our mistakes? Can’t He make us realize our mistakes with love and affection? Even if one has to be punished, should the punishment not be then and there, so that one understands the mistakes and corrects them?
When one participates in a motor race or wants to become a solider, he very well understands the risk involved in the job.
Renouncing everything in life and becoming a monk is very easy. But those who take to family life are really courageous and are ready to face the challenges in life. In that sense, they are great. Once we have opted to take this path, we should face it without whining about it.
The real reason for sorrows in life is not the problems one encounters; it is rather the ego. One prefers to keep the ego rather than trying to overcome the problem. Now the root cause is obvious, isn’t it?
There are always different viewpoints to any idea. Had the Lord started punishing us then and there, you would then ask, why not the Lord wait for us to regret for our mistakes and correct them!
Prarabdha Karma is that part of karma one is trying exhaust in ones lifetime. Prarabdha Karma is something that can’t be changed. Is it true that even Brahman (the ultimate truth) can not change one’s prarabdha karma?
The Lord never removes one’s Karma even though He has the power to do it. This is because the human mind is so doubt-ridden that if God removes one’s bad Karma, he may be worried that God might remove his good deeds too!
All our activities – punya (merits) or sins, are according God’s will. If that is the case, then why do we take births on account of our merits and sins?
Although you are performing good deeds or sins according to ‘prarabda’ or God’s will, the moment you attach ownership and feel that you are responsible for the good or the bad, you get entangled in the vicious ‘Karma’ cycle.
If you attain a state where you don’t feel proud for the good you do and don’t feel guilty for the bad, then you are relieved from the cycle of births and deaths. However this is more easily said than done.
Jivan Muktas live in this world even after they have attained liberation because these factors do not affect them.
