“पाप से घृणा करो, पापी से नहीं “
Swamiji says….
” Life, most certainly, would have been dull, boring and unexciting, if each one of us – had been identical … a replica of one another and had borne similar traits and characteristics ! It is difficult to imagine even for a second the monotony that would have descended upon the world, had it been inhabited by billions of similar looking, and similar minded people. But then the difference in our mental make-up should not be so extreme that we fail to register the responsibility that comes along with being a human being and be extremely conscious of what we make of our lives ; to be aware of the consequences of our actions !”
“God’s ingenuity has given Him the sole, exclusive right of creating humanity – and He outdid himself by gifting not only distinctive facial features to every human being, but also, a remarkably different emotional and intelligence quotient … to be rationale ; to know when to draw a line between good and bad.”
” The stamp of God’s amazing creativity is clearly revealed in the different faiths, feelings, beliefs, behaviour, thoughts, attitudes – that are followed and nurtured by us. A stark difference is evident here too. And what we finally become, is the end result of the choices that we make from the contrasting colours that life lays out before us, that could cause us to be either animated and upbeat, or disturbed and guilty. Do we ever reflect and deliberate – ‘What stalls us from doing – ‘punya’ – and instead draws us like a magnet towards the dark corridors of ‘paap’? Why do we hesitate in speaking the truth – ‘satya’, but are very much at ease while spooning out ‘asatya’? When did we decide to stop standing by ‘dharma’, and willingly discard both – values and loved ones – to support ‘adharma’? For how long can we play a hide and seek game with our conscience ! It would be anybody’s nightmare to be branded a ‘ paapi ‘ and to hear himself being pronounced … ‘ Yeh paapi hai … Issney paap kiya hai ! “
” Remember, it is very difficult to remove the stains of this stigma from our name, once we are pronounced sinners – ‘paapi’ by others. The concerned ‘bad’ individual – the ‘paapi’ gains prominence while the wrong action – ‘paap’ fades away in the background; when, in fact, it should have been the other way round – ‘ Paap se ghrihna karo … paapi se nahi!’
“‘Hatred over love! Crime over goodness ! Sinning mindlessly !’ What is it about these dubious elements that attract ordinary folks like us to include them in our daily habits, and entice us to transition to a life steeped in vices, wrongdoing and wickedness? Is it the demonic quality of these words, that by virtue reek of negativity and impurity – that has an affect so lethal on us that we are drawn towards them like hapless victims.The irony of such spineless behaviour is that when a person falls prey to these negative characteristics ; gets a taste of their potency and then indulges blindly in nefarious activities, the blame and hatred falls not on the merciless, chilling – ‘paap’ that incites us to be diabolical , but on the ‘paapi’, who has been enslaved by them. Just imagine his fate!”
” Individuals who are associated with ‘paap’ of any kind become direct targets of others who look at them with suspicion and openly voice their contempt for them. Those of us who fall prey to these sinister, abhorrent, vile habits are hated, detested by others and for what? For having succumbed to vices by giving up virtues ? For not being strong enough in the face of evil’s temptation? For being a victim of circumstances at a particular moment of his lifetime as he might not have had any other alternative but to respond to the inviting call of cheating, theft, deceit and deception by following it blindly ? No one is interested in listening to what the ‘paapi’ has to say…as hatred for him blinds them to see reason of any kind.”
” None of us is born bad. ‘Koi bhi paap jaan bujh kar nahi karna chahata hai ! Paristhitiyan ussey paapi ban ne par majboor kar deti hain.” But at the same time, we cannot make feeble excuses for having sinned knowingly. Rather, we should put up a stiff resistance against anything that can earn us ill – will , wrath and unwanted negativity from others. Why should we become a topic of discussion for others ? We have to be resolute in the face of these short term, profit gaining evil returns, mindful that while no one around us reviles about ‘sins’ – it is the ‘sinner’ who is neither forgotten, nor forgiven…’ Hum aissi koi bhi cheez kyun karein, joh hummey ghrihna ka paatra bana sakta hai!’ Is there any point in walking down a road that can only take us to perdition?”