Man must atone for his moral lapses

CHENNAI, SEPT. 28. The scriptures have prescribed guidelines pertaining to man's conduct with the intention of maintaining righteousness in the world. By following these prescriptions a person not only promotes Dharma in society but also evolves spiritually. It is apparent that all do not subscribe to the scriptural injunctions due to various reasons. Moreover, even those who abide by Dharma occasionally go astray by succumbing to their weaknesses or due to unavoidable circumstances. Though the effect of such moral lapses may not be felt immediately it must be borne in mind that no one can escape from the consequences of his actions. What then should a person who wants to mend his ways do?

Atonement has been prescribed in the scriptures themselves as the way out and they are the best guide in this matter. When a person atones for his sins he must consciously try to change over a new leaf by refraining from committing the same mistake again and again. Habits die hard and in actual life situations it requires tremendous willpower to attain control over one's natural tendency to commit misdeeds. Further there will be no scope for man's spiritual evolution if he is eternally damned for his sins. It was out of concern for man suffering in bondage that the scriptures have recommended chanting the Divine names as atonement for his moral lapses and also for those which he might have done in previous births about which he had no knowledge, said Damal Sri S. Ramakrishnan and Smt. Perundevi Seshadri in their discourse.

That it is possible to be liberated from bondage even when one has committed countless sins by chanting the Divine name is evident from Ajamila's life as depicted in the Bhagavata Purana. The potency of God's names to nullify the effect of man's sins has been brought out in the exchange between the messengers of the god of Death, Yama, and the messengers of the Lord, who interceded on Ajamila's behalf when he died. Besides, chanting the Divine name is capable of curbing the tendency to commit the same mistake again by purifying the mind of its inherent tendencies accrued from previous births.

Though Ajamila had committed unpardonable sins, he had without his knowledge atoned for his sins by uttering the Divine name, Narayana, unintentionally on the verge of death. Such is the potency of the Divine name that it had countered all his past sins too and conferred liberation from rebirth. The analogy of fire burning a child's fingers when it touches the fire unknowingly is often cited to explain this paradox.

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