Once there lived a hunter called Ratnakara, who used to loot and harm the people passing through the jungle. The merciful sage, Sri Narada Muni met him and asked him why he was comitting the sinful act of robbery. Ratnakara justified that he had to do this for the sake of feeding his family members and so there is nothing wrong in doing the same. Narada Muni informed him that whatever he was doing was definitely a sinful activity and that he would have to face the reactions for the same all alone. Ratnakar was claiming that he was performing these activities out of love for his family and so his family members would definitely support him in sharing the reactions for these sinful acts. Narada Muni asked him to go and check with his family members whether they would share the fruits of his sins – just like the way they had been enjoying the fruits of his robbery. But to his surprise when Ratnakar went home and checked with his family members, neither his wife, nor his children, or parents were ready to share his sins.
Then Ratnakar went back to Narada Muni and humbly inquired from him as to how he could be relieved of the sinful reactions. Narada Muni taught him the sacred name of ‘Rama’ and asked him to sit in meditation, chanting the name of Rama, till the time Narada came back. Ratnakara followed the instructions and kept sitting in a meditative posture for years, during which his body got completely covered by an anthill. At last, Narada came to see him and removed all the anthills from his body. Then, he told Ratnakara that his tapasya (meditation) paid off and that the Lord was pleased with him. Ratnakara was bestowed with the honor of a Brahmarshi and given the name of Valmiki, since he was reborn from the Valmika (the ant-hill).
Just like the hunter Ratnakar in the above story, many a times in our life, we also involve ourselves in various kinds of sinful activities in the name of doing it for the sake of our family and friends. But we should remember that the we alone are going to be the sufferers for whatever sins we do. In Srimad Bhagavatam Akrura while advising Dhrtarashtra says in verse 10.49.21
ekah prasuyate jantur / eka eva praliyate
eko ‘nubhuÅ„kte sukrtam / eka eva ca dushkrtam
“Every creature is born alone and dies alone, and alone one experiences the just rewards of his good and evil deeds.”
So for the sake of pleasing our senses or the senses of family members and friends, we should not engage in sinful activities. For whatever activity we are doing here is noted in our account of good and bad deeds and we alone have to experience the rewards of those actions. No other living entity will be ready to share the reward for our sinful actions. Even if people are willing to help, it is practically impossible for them to share our sins as confirmed in the above verse. As taught by Sri Narada Muni, chanting of Lord’s holy names alone can save us from this vicious cycles of action and reactions, birth and death etc. Remembering the eternal truth that we would be travelling all alone in our final journey, let us intensify our devotional service, by practising to chant the Lord’s names sincerely, so that we can blissfully reach the supreme destination without any fear.
source: http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/
pamho agtACBSP
Thank you for posting this wonderful article, nowadays people got so degraded that they do not share anything with other people if they got nothing to share,what to say about the sinful reactions: nobody wants it but everyone wants to enjoy the fruit of the fruitive activities, therefore everyone need to suffer to realize the way out given by SRI NARADA MUNI.
Actually SRILA PRABHUPADA used to say, that we are in the material world means that we are at our own risk here in this short troublesome journey to foreign land of maha maya. Normally ordinary people worry too much about so many fake reflections, but nobody worries too much about Krsna which is the real business for everyone.
We are born alone, die alone, therefore our only shelter is SRI SRI GURU GAURANGA who brought to us the best medicine in the form of the maha mantra hare krsna channa avatara the hidden suddha nama avatara. We can see that also in the animal kingdom so many living entities leave their insignificant bodies constantly, but the reward is there as well through jivo jivasya jivanam experiences through the duality of the evil and the pious activities, and when the pious one get the right level of sukrti get promoted to the human form of life.
Unfortunately a lot people forget the only purpose to reach through the gift of human form of life by spoiling it as they used to do while still living in the animal kingdom, because the habits are the second nature of the soul therefore they get easily in the same track of their previous lives. But sadhu sanga sadhu sanga sarve sastra hoy lava matra sadhu sange sarva siddhi hoy, the spiritual acaryavan puruso veda association and divyan jnana knowledge of the mahajanas ,nitya siddhas ,avataras, paramahamsa etc. is so powerful that it can change the bad habit in the good one in very short time when the instructions to the sincere followers are successful, as happened with HG jayananda prabhu, being the most brilliant disciple of HDG ACBSP because of his faith in following the instructions of a pure devotee as SRILA PRABHUPADA. But is not the same with all the others deviants who are still struggling in this dukhalayam asasvatam world, while HG jayananda prabhu is in a blissful condition by keeping serving SRILA PRABHUPADA with his spiritual body.
Maybe we were born alone, but we do not die alone and our reward is SRILA PRABHUPADA at the time of ante narayana smrti for the sincere sadhakas of our guru maharaj.
agtSP ys haribol