Aptavani-2 403
language the people are employing today. He gave proper instructions, but people interpreted them according to their own understanding. The Lord had said,“ Understand correctly in your own language.” He had said for us to use the‘ soap’( do pratikraman) for cleansing away the stains( any wrong doing). But here people buy the soap, but they simply keep reciting the pratikraman ritually. No one is applying the soap to clean their clothes and yet they claim they are doing pratikraman. When they are finished with reciting their pratikraman, they go out and start gossiping. Pratikraman should be instant. Pratikraman should be done the moment atikraman occurs. Cash! Bodily activities are instant. Brushing teeth, drinking tea and eating breakfast are prompt activities; it is like cash in hand. Similarly, the activity of speech and mind are also‘ cash’; they are instantaneous. So should be the pratikraman for any atikraman. Pratikraman should be done the moment any atikraman occurs, this way everything will begin to purify. If you do pratikraman the moment atikraman occurs, the mind and speech will begin to purify.
People do not understand what atikraman is and neither do they understand pratikraman. Once a year they do generic and collective‘ micchami dookadam’( forgive my transgressions), without understanding what‘ micchami’ or‘ dookadam’ means.
Pratikraman sessions today are conducted in the Magadhi language. The Maharaj reads and everyone listens, so how is the chit likely to be contained? People are likely to become interested if they understand what the Maharaj is reading. But people don’ t understand it and then later they start gossiping. The Lord did not tell one to behave in this manner. What He said was,“ if you stumble, then realize that you must have erred and therefore immediately do alochana( confession of misdeeds) to your Guru or with me as your witness.” This pratikraman has to be done directly, immediately and on a one-on-one basis; only then will you be able to wash away the mistake, just as you