Question 1: What is Karma?
Answer by Romapada Swami: Every action has its equal or greater reaction – this is a simple definition of karma. Whatever activity we do, good or bad, brings us good or bad reactions. Due to good karma, one may get a beautiful body, become wealthy or very intelligent etc., and bad reactions may come in the form of disease, poverty etc., or in terms of heavenly enjoyment or hellish sufferings and so on.
Question 2: Many people have the idea that the bad karma can be reduced or removed through meditation, worship, samskara or sacrifice. What do you think?
Answer by Romapada Swami: Sukadeva Gosvami gives a similar answer to Maharaj Pariksit when he asks how to mitigate the hellish sufferings and sinful reactions. Sukadeva Gosvami prescribes that by performance of atonement to the sinful activities and by cultivating tapasya, brahmacarya, truthfulness, control of mind and senses etc., one can counteract the sinful reactions. So it is possible to reduce one’s sinful actions if one follows the prescribed way. However, this is hardly possible, especially in this age of Kali, when performance of the prescribed methods of atonement according to Vedic rituals, under the guidance of qualified brahmana or strictly following the above-mentioned processes, is very difficult, to say the least. Further King Pariksit asks, “But how can atonement really help if the sinful tendencies are not removed from the heart of the living entity?” He will be driven by those tendencies to keep committing the same sinful activities again and again and will thus be bound to suffer. Pariksit Maharaj compares this to the bathing of an elephant, which after a nice bath, comes ashore and throws mud all over its body again. The real remedy is therefore to remove the root cause of bad karma, i.e. sinful tendencies. Sukadeva Gosvami confirms this. And he describes how to do it: by surrendering to the Supreme Lord and performing devotional service all sins are completely eradicated, just as darkness is immediately dissipated by sunlight. Krsna will automatically take away all of one’s sinful reactions at one stroke, as He promises in the Bhagavad Gita, without our having to undergo much trouble for atoning the untold amount of sinful reactions we have. Cf SB Canto 6, Ch. 1.
