Pratikraman: Freedom Through Apology & Repentance (Abr.) (In English) Pratikraman: Freedom Through Apology & Repentence | Page 20

Pratikraman
7
and exactly the way it happened, to your guru or to a Gnani.
The amount of pratikraman one needs to do depends on
the amount of atikraman one does. Atikraman includes deeds
that are not acceptable in society, deeds that are condemned,
and deeds that inflict pain on others. If any of this applies,
pratikraman is necessary.
You have to understand who binds the karmas. What is
your name?
Questioner: My name is Chandulal.
Dadashri: Then the one who says, “I am Chandulal,” is
the entity that binds karma. Karmas are bound even during
sleep, throughout the night. What is the reason behind this? It
is because of the misconception of your true identity, (You are
really pure Self, but you say you are Chandulal) that karmas are
being charged. In reality you are not Chandulal, and yet you
claim that you are. “I am Chandulal,” is a false accusation and
with this belief you are continuously charging karmas. With your
conviction of, “I am Chandulal,” comes a series of other wrong
beliefs, such as, “I am her husband; his uncle; her father; their
boss, etc.” Even in your sleep you bind karma, which cannot be
avoided. But if you purify your ego of its conviction of, “I am
Chandulal,” you will not bind as many karmas.
Even after the ego becomes somewhat pure, you will still
have to perform some rituals. If your daughter-in-law breaks
something expensive and you shout at her, you will have to do
pratikraman for hurting her feelings. The hurt you cause is
atikraman and if you do pratikraman immediately, the karma
will be erased or become lighter. Whenever you do atikraman,
you must erase it with pratikraman. It should be a shoot-on-
sight, instantaneous pratikraman, and not the kind that is done
only once a year. Only then will it lighten this burden of suffering.