Can Bad Karma Be Overcome In One Lifetime?

---

---

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, an enlightened being, has said, “There is nothing in this world that does not have a solution. The solution is born first, thereafter the ailment arises!”

Through atikraman, bad karma is bound.

Atikraman means to hurt any living being through our mind, speech or body. There is no problem with kraman i.e. the neutral worldly activity of the mind, speech, or body that does not hurt anyone. But if you have done atikraman, pratikraman needs to be done for it, because it is due to atikraman that bad karma is bound, as a result of which one has to undergo a lot of suffering.

Atikraman keeps happening, so keep doing pratikraman.

For instance, if negative thoughts arise in your mind, you should do pratikraman.

What is Pratikraman?

Praikraman means, you:

Confess: You confess your mistake (the bad karma) in the witness of God,

Apologize: You apologize for your mistake in the witness of God, and

Resolve: You resolve to not repeat this mistake.

In whose witness do you do Pratikraman?

Whomever you have faith in. Whether you believe in Lord Krishna or in Dada Bhagwan, whomever you have faith in, do it with Him as a witness. Do pratikraman in His name, as follows: ‘Oh Dada Bhagwan, negative thoughts have arisen in my mind, for which I ask for forgiveness. Please forgive me. I resolve, I will not do it again.’

When bad deeds happen, repentance must immediately follow.

---

---

Repentance is considered to be pratikraman!

Param Pujya Dadashri advises, “You should repent wholeheartedly and with sincerity. Despite repenting, if the mistake is repeated, do not worry about it. You repent once again. Since you are not aware of the science behind this; you may feel that despite repenting, my bad karma is not coming to a stop? But the reason why it is not coming to a stop is science! So you simply carry on repenting. For the one who repents wholeheartedly, all his karma are washed away. If someone feels hurt by you, you should definitely repent over that all the more.”

By atoning, the karmic tubers become lighter.

Param Pujya Dadashri explains,

“As long as the awareness of, ‘I am the Soul’ is not attained, if atonement does not happen, then more bad karma gets bound. By atoning, the karmic tubers become lighter. Otherwise, the result of that bad karma is terrible. One’s right to be reborn as a human in the next birth too could be forfeited. And even if one ends up being born as a human in the next life, he would face all kinds of difficulties. Eg. He would certainly never get any respect from people. He would have to face constant insults. He could even have to face difficulty in obtaining food and water, etc.

That is why this atonement and other rituals need to be carried out. This is referred to as indirect worship. As long as one does not attain Self-realization, it is necessary to engage in indirect worship.”

Self-Realization brings a stop to binding of new karma.

When the karmas (both good and bad) for a particular lifetime come to end, that is when the body departs (death happens). But by then, new karmas have already been bound. You are binding karmas even at this very moment.

Carrying out good deeds is considered dharma, and carrying out bad deeds is considered adharma. And to go beyond dharma and adharma is considered Atma dharma (religion of the Self). When you carry out good karma, credit is created, and you will have to come back to enjoy that credit [in the next life]. When you carry out bad karma, debit is created, and you will have to come back to suffer that debit [in the next life].

And once the Self is attained (Self-Realization), there is no new credit and debit that will happen in the ledger.

On the Akram path, the step-less, direct path to Self-realization, Gnani Purush i.e. One who has realized the Self and is able to do the same for others, is the essence. With his grace, we can directly attain Self-Realization. Thereafter, the special principles that he gives is all that we have to follow to keep ourselves free from the bondage of any new karma.