The moment someone opens the door, the precious worship-seat was found speared by a mouse. Beholding this sight the disciple got irritated and expressed that the mouse must be killed.
Gurudev (Yogabhikshuji): Why should we kill it ? Why should it be made a subject to fatal punishment for causing such a small damage? What injustice? How would we feel if we are sentenced to death for this sort of crime? What do we do if the door would become obstacle and torn our clothes? Do we break it? What do we do if a boy, who is playing a ball, throws it and damage our crockery? Do we slap him? No, we would grumble for some-time and then become silent.
All we wish is that, a mouse dose not spears our worship-seat. We can do it by trapping the mouse in the cage. But instead of doing this, we would like to kill it as we know that there is nobody to defend it and offend us. Beware! It is a rule in the Court of Law that if there is nobody to defend someone, the government pleader pleads for that person. The same rule prevails in nature. The nature does take care of every living creature with complete proficiency. To sow a seed in the soil and get infinite fruits out of it is the Law of Nature. In the same manner, if you would make someone unhappy the nature would make you unhappy infinitely. That is the principle of ‘Karma’ (an act done by body, mind or speech is covered under the world ‘Karma’). Since the worship-seat is speared we get mercilessly angry because we are the owner of it. But have we ever thought how much the creator of the mouse-the God-would get angry upon the destroyer of the mouse?
A man who considers himself highly intellectual is indeed a dam fool. He cannot understand the principle of ‘Karma’, which is very easy like one plus one make two. For a very small damage to the worship-seat if we make the mouse suffer the calamity of death then how terribly the killer who has destroyed the creation of God would suffer? Nobody can escape the bearing of ‘Karma’.
The seed would blossom there only where we would saw it is a perceptible Law and hence easily understandable. But fruits like happiness or unhappiness may not be obtained from the place where the virtuous or sinful deed takes place. It may also be obtained from the other place. This imperceptible Law of ‘Karma’ dose not come to our understanding easily, hence the negligence on our part.
We are sure that if we will hit someone with a stick once, he would hit us more than once and hence we keep control over the mind. But we would not hesitate to hurt small animals like a cat, dog, etc. and to make them lame. But after sometime when we slip by stepping on a banana-skin and get our leg fractured, we do not understand that this is the fruit of our ‘Karma’ making the animal lame. This is an example. Every occurrence in the life should be understood in this way.
The process of the ‘Karma’ is mysterious, which cannot and will not be totally understood. But if it can be observed so long as it is understood, then we may liberate ourselves a great deal of miseries.
By prayer and diligence let us understand more and more about the Law of ‘Karma’ and its fruits.