We know that according to Gurmat, we are held accountable for our actions, unless we repent them before Vaheguru jee assigns us an appropriate result of our Karma. Karma in Gurmat is not an autonomous system which does not regard the intention of the doer but Karma in Gurmat is actively run by Vaheguru jee. Every day in our lives we encounter many incidents which prove that we will reap what we sow but still we don't understand. We continue doing actions under the spell of Maya without considering its long term effects. Sometimes, such incidents occur in our lives which show us that Vaheguru's justice is here and very alive. I would like to narrate two such incidents from my life, which showed immediate effects of my actions:
The incident involving Fender Bending of a CarThis incident is about 16 years old. I had been newly married and we were visiting someone's home. I was an Amritdhari person at that time. I was backing out their driveway, when accidently, the back bumper of my car hit the front left fender of a car parked on the road. I did not get out of my car but noticed that the fender of this car had become dented. I was a bit short on money and I did not want to get bad driving record. I looked around and noticed that it was dark and no one was outside. The spell of Maya came over me and I fled the scene. As I was driving home, my conscience was killing me. It was reminding me that even though no one had seen me denting the fender of that car, but Vaheguru surely had seen me and that I would have to suffer the consequences of damaging someone's car and for not taking responsibility of my actions. It was about a 7 minutes drive. By the time I reached home, I was regretting my decision to flee the scene. I did not get out of my car to go home but right away went back to the place of accident. I had fully decided that I would take ownership of my actions. I was back at the place within 15 minutes but when I got there, the car was missing from there. I knocked on couple of doors and asked if anyone knew about the missing car. No one could tell anything about the car. The car was gone and with that was also gone my chance of repenting my wrongdoing and taking ownership of my actions. I came home, and did some Paath and Ardaas seeking forgiveness for my Manmatti behaviour.
Couple of days passed by and one day I noticed that the left front fender of my car had an exact same kind of dent that I had caused to the other car. I am not sure when and how this dent on the fender of my car came. Even though my car was a new car but I felt so happy seeing the dent that it surprised my family. I was glad that the Karmic debt had been settled.
Accidently Stepping on a Gurmat BookA Gurmat related book had fallen on the ground. It was dark and I could not see. At Amritvela, as I got up from my bed, I stepped on a book. I immediately suspected that I had stepped on a book. I got hold of the book and touched it on my forehead and then kept it back on the side table, near my bed. I thought that I would seek forgiveness later on. As was the act of Vaheguru, within few seconds, as I was walking towards the washroom to do Ishnaan, I forgot about it. When I reached the washroom, I felt a sharp pain in the sole of my foot. I could not put my body weight on that foot. The pain continued through Naam Abhyaas and Amritvela. I limped all day, while walking around at work. The whole day passed but the pain stayed on. The next day came and the pain was still there. I was sitting at work, when different but very severe pain started from my ankle area of the same foot. It was a very excruciating pain. Now two parts of my foot were paining and I was sitting there wondering, what had happened. Right there and then, the incident of the previous day flashed in my mind. I remembered that I had accidently stepped on a Gurmat related book and how the pain had started in my foot, within few seconds of the accident. I was surprised that it did not occur to me before that the pain was due to Be-Adbi of Gurbani, that I had done inadvertently.
I immediately, lowered my head and started calling out Vaheguru jee, seeking forgiveness for my actions. I realized that my mistake was that I had not done Ardaas for forgiveness. I immediately did a gupt Benti and promised to do formal Ardaas that evening. After doing Gupt Benti, the result was almost immediate. The pain in both spots of my foot subsided quite a bit. In the evening I got home and after Sodar Rehraas Sahib, I did an Ardaas and promised to do one Siri Jap jee Sahib as Paschataap (penance). The pain totally went away after that. Siri Jap jee Sahib was done soon after and an Ardaas was performed for acceptance of this Seva.
These incidents taught me some valuable lessons. We can't run away from the results of our actions. Running away from the scene of an incident or by covering the burning coals with ashes does not extinguish the fire in coals. We can't run away from Vaheguru. He is everywhere. Where can we hide from him? The best thing is to take responsibility of our actions and seek forgiveness from Vaheguru. It's easier to pay off our Karma here in this world than to get punished by Dharam Rai in the next world. Also, Gurbani must be respected to the maximum. If Be-adbi does occur, we should seek forgiveness immediately. When Pothis at Chando Kalan were burned by police, Sant Jarnail Singh jee had a Siri Akhand Paath Sahib done in Paschataap.
Please share stories from your life, related to Karma and their effects.
Kulbir Singh
ਸਤਿਗੁਰਬਚਨਕਮਾਵਣੇਸਚਾਏਹੁਵੀਚਾਰੁ॥
