The principle of remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly and not forgetting Him at any moment is meant to be followed by everyone without fail. If this injunction is followed, then all other rules and regulations will automatically fall into line. All other rules and regulations should be treated as assistants or servants to this one basic principle. The injunctions of rules and regulations and the resultant reactions are mentioned in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fifth Chapter, verses 2 and 3. Camasa Muni, one of the nine sages who came to instruct King Nimi, addressed the King and said, "The four social orders, namely the brāhmaṇas, the kṣatriyas, the vaiśyas and the śūdras, have come out of the different parts of the universal form of the Supreme Lord as follows: the brāhmaṇas have come out from the head, the kṣatriyas have come out from the arms, the vaiśyas have come out from the waist, and the śūdras have come out from the legs. Similarly, the sannyāsīs have come out from the head, the vānaprasthas from the arms, the gṛhasthas from the waist and the brahmacārīs from the legs."
Resultant reactions
Expressions researched:
"changes of resultant actions"
|"reaction, or the resultant action"
|"reactions resulting"
|"reactions, resultant actions"
|"resultant contamination of sinful reactions"
|"resultant reaction"
|"resultant reactions"
|"resultant sequence of reactions"
|"resultant sinful reactions"
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
When there is an epidemic disease, an antiseptic vaccine protects a person from the attack of such an epidemic. Similarly, food offered to Lord Viṣṇu and then taken by us makes us sufficiently resistant to material affection, and one who is accustomed to this practice is called a devotee of the Lord. Therefore, a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, who eats only food offered to Kṛṣṇa, can counteract all reactions of past material infections, which are impediments to the progress of self-realization. On the other hand, one who does not do so continues to increase the volume of sinful action, and this prepares the next body to resemble hogs and dogs, to suffer the resultant reactions of all sins. The material world is full of contaminations, and one who is immunized by accepting prasādam of the Lord (food offered to Viṣṇu) is saved from the attack, whereas one who does not do so becomes subjected to contamination.
This freedom from the bondage of actions is possible only in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, when one is doing everything for Kṛṣṇa. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person acts out of pure love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore he has no attraction for the results of the action. He is not even attached to his personal maintenance, for everything is left to Kṛṣṇa. Nor is he anxious to secure things, nor to protect things already in his possession. He does his duty to the best of his ability and leaves everything to Kṛṣṇa. Such an unattached person is always free from the resultant reactions of good and bad; it is as though he were not doing anything. This is the sign of akarma, or actions without fruitive reactions. Any other action, therefore, devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is binding upon the worker, and that is the real aspect of vikarma, as explained hereinbefore.
Becoming fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, one is freed from all dualities and thus is free from the contaminations of the material modes. He can become liberated because he knows his constitutional position in relationship with Kṛṣṇa, and thus his mind cannot be drawn from Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Consequently, whatever he does, he does for Kṛṣṇa, who is the primeval Viṣṇu. Therefore, all his works are technically sacrifices because sacrifice aims at satisfying the Supreme Person, Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa. The resultant reactions to all such work certainly merge into transcendence, and one does not suffer material effects.
When one acts in Kṛṣṇa consciousness for the satisfaction of the senses of Kṛṣṇa, any action, whether of the body, mind, intelligence or even the senses, is purified of material contamination. There are no material reactions resulting from the activities of a Kṛṣṇa conscious person. Therefore purified activities, which are generally called sad-ācāra, can be easily performed by acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.187) describes this as follows:
- īhā yasya harer dāsye
- karmaṇā manasā girā
- nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu
- jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate
"A person acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness (or, in other words, in the service of Kṛṣṇa) with his body, mind, intelligence and words is a liberated person even within the material world, although he may be engaged in many so-called material activities."
The living entity, as will be explained in the Seventh Chapter, is one of the energies or natures of the Supreme Lord but is distinct from matter, which is another nature—called inferior—of the Lord. Somehow the superior nature, the living entity, has been in contact with material nature since time immemorial. The temporary body or material dwelling place which he obtains is the cause of varieties of activities and their resultant reactions. Living in such a conditional atmosphere, one suffers the results of the activities of the body by identifying himself (in ignorance) with the body. It is ignorance acquired from time immemorial that is the cause of bodily suffering and distress. As soon as the living entity becomes aloof from the activities of the body, he becomes free from the reactions as well. As long as he is in the city of body, he appears to be the master of it, but actually he is neither its proprietor nor controller of its actions and reactions. He is simply in the midst of the material ocean, struggling for existence.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
The conditioned souls are mostly attracted by fruitive work because they want to enjoy life by the sweat of their own brows. The whole universe is full of fruitive workers in all species of life. The fruitive works include all kinds of economic development plans. But the law of nature provides that every action has its resultant reaction, and the performer of the work is bound up by such reactions, good or bad. The reaction of good work is comparative material prosperity, whereas the reaction of bad work is comparative material distress. But material conditions, either in so-called happiness or in so-called distress, are all meant ultimately for distress only. Foolish materialists have no information of how to obtain eternal happiness in the unconditional state.
Another name of the Paramātmā feature of the Lord is kāla, or eternal time. Eternal time is the witness of all our actions, good and bad, and thus resultant reactions are destined by Him. It is no use saying that we do not know why and for what we are suffering. We may forget the misdeed for which we may suffer at this present moment, but we must remember that Paramātmā is our constant companion, and therefore He knows everything, past, present and future. And because the Paramātmā feature of Lord Kṛṣṇa destines all actions and reactions, He is the supreme controller also. Without His sanction not a blade of grass can move. The living beings are given as much freedom as they deserve, and misuse of that freedom is the cause of suffering. The devotees of the Lord do not misuse their freedom, and therefore they are the good sons of the Lord. Others, who misuse freedom, are put into miseries destined by the eternal kāla. The kāla offers the conditioned souls both happiness and miseries. It is all predestined by eternal time. As we have miseries uncalled-for, so we may have happiness also without being asked, for they are all predestined by kāla. No one is therefore either an enemy or friend of the Lord. Everyone is suffering and enjoying the result of his own destiny.
Generally the law of karma is that one is awarded the result of one's own actions, but in special cases, by the will of the Lord, such resultant actions are changed also. But this change can be affected by the will of the Lord only, and no other. Therefore, the example of the player cited in this verse is quite appropriate, for the Supreme Will is absolutely free to do whatever He likes, and because He is all-perfect, there is no mistake in any of His actions or reactions. These changes of resultant actions are especially rendered by the Lord when a pure devotee is involved. It is assured in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.30-31) that the Lord saves a pure devotee who has surrendered unto Him without reservation from all sorts of reactions of sins, and there is no doubt about this. There are hundreds of examples of reactions changed by the Lord in the history of the world. If the Lord is able to change the reactions of one's past deeds, then certainly He is not Himself bound by any action or reaction of His own deeds. He is perfect and transcendental to all laws.
The personality of Kali addressed Mahārāja Parīkṣit as the chief amongst the protectors of religiosity because the King refrained from killing a person who surrendered unto him. A surrendered soul should be given all protection, even though he may be an enemy. That is the principle of religion. And we can just imagine what sort of protection is given by the Personality of Godhead to the person who surrenders unto Him, not as an enemy but as a devoted servitor. The Lord protects the surrendered soul from all sins and all resultant reactions of sinful acts (BG 18.66).
SB Canto 2
Then again, kindly describe how the proportionate accumulation of the reactions resulting from the different modes of material nature act upon the desiring living being, promoting or degrading him among the different species of life, beginning from the demigods down to the most insignificant creatures.
The Lord, as the Supersoul in the heart of every living being, knows what is in the mind of each living entity, and no one can do anything without the knowledge of the Lord within. By His superior intelligence, the Lord gives everyone the chance to fulfill his desires to the fullest extent, and the resultant reaction is also awarded by the Lord.
SB Canto 3
When a man earns money by unfair means and maintains his family and himself with that money, the money is enjoyed by many members of the family, but he alone goes to hell. A person who enjoys life by earning money or by envying another's life, and who enjoys with family and friends, will have to enjoy alone the resultant sinful reactions accrued from such violent and illicit life. For example, if a man secures some money by killing someone and with that money maintains his family, those who enjoy the black money earned by him are also partially responsible and are also sent to hell, but he who is the leader is especially punished. The result of material enjoyment is that one takes with him the sinful reaction only, and not the money. The money he earned is left in this world, and he takes only the reaction.
SB Canto 4
In Bhagavad-gītā (3.9) it is said, yajñārthāt karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ: one should act or work only in order to please the Supreme Lord, otherwise one becomes entangled in the resultant reactions. According to the four divisions of varṇa and āśrama, kṣatriyas and vaiśyas are especially advised to perform great ceremonial sacrifices and to distribute their accumulated money very liberally. Dhruva Mahārāja, as a king and ideal kṣatriya, performed many such sacrifices, giving very liberally in charity. Kṣatriyas and vaiśyas are supposed to earn their money and accumulate great riches. Sometimes they do it by acting sinfully. Kṣatriyas are meant to rule over a country; Dhruva Mahārāja, for example, in the course of ruling, had to fight and kill many Yakṣas. Such action is necessary for kṣatriyas. A kṣatriya should not be a coward, and he should not be nonviolent; to rule over the country he has to act violently.
Although Dhruva Mahārāja was a great devotee and had nothing to do with these sacrifices, to set an example to his people he performed many sacrifices and gave all his wealth in charity. For as long as he lived as a householder, he never spent a farthing for his sense gratification. In this verse the word karma-phala-pradam is very significant. The Lord awards everyone different kinds of karma as the individual living entities desire; He is the Supersoul present within the heart of everyone, and He is so kind and liberal that He gives everyone full facilities to perform whatever acts one wants. Then the result of the action is also enjoyed by the living entity. If anyone wants to enjoy or lord it over material nature, the Lord gives him full facilities, but he becomes entangled in the resultant reactions. Similarly, if anyone wants to engage himself fully in devotional service, the Lord gives him full facilities, and the devotee enjoys the results. The Lord is therefore known as karma-phala-prada.
Just as Kṛṣṇa is addressed in the Brahma-saṁhitā as ādi-puruṣa, the original personality, so King Pṛthu, being an empowered incarnation of the Lord, is referred to in this verse as ādi-rājaḥ, the original or ideal king. He was a great devotee and at the same time a great hero who conquered over all undesirable elements in his kingdom. He was so powerful that he was equal in fighting to Indra, the King of heaven. He gave protection to his citizens, keeping them engaged in pious activities and devotion to the Lord. He did not collect a single cent of taxes from the citizens without being able to give them protection from all calamities. The greatest calamity in life is to become godless and therefore sinful. If the state head or king allows the citizens to become sinful by indulging in illicit sex life, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling, then the king is responsible, and he has to suffer the resultant sequence of reactions for the sinful lives of the citizens because he levies taxes on them unnecessarily. These are the principles for a ruling power, and because Mahārāja Pṛthu observed all the principles for a ruling chief, he is referred to here as ādi-rājaḥ.
The terms "pious" and "impious" are applicable only in reference to the activities of an ordinary living being. But Mahārāja Pṛthu was a directly empowered incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu; therefore he was not subject to the reactions of pious or impious activities. As we have already explained previously, when a living being is specifically empowered by the Supreme Lord to act for a particular purpose, he is called a śaktyāveśa-avatāra. Pṛthu Mahārāja was not only a śaktyāveśa-avatāra but also a great devotee. A devotee is not subjected to the reactions resulting from past deeds. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said, karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām: (Bs. 5.54) for devotees the results of past pious and impious activities are nullified by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The words ārabdhān eva mean "as if achieved by past deeds," but in the case of Pṛthu Mahārāja there was no question of reaction to past deeds, and thus the word eva is used here to indicate comparison to ordinary persons.
A king, governor or president should not take the opportunity to occupy his post without also discharging his duty. He must teach the people within the state how to observe the divisions of varṇa and āśrama. If a king neglects to give such instructions and is simply satisfied with levying taxes, then those who share in the collection—namely, all the government servants and the head of the state—are liable to share in the impious activities of the general masses. The laws of nature are very subtle. For example, if one eats in a place which is very sinful, he shares in the resultant reaction of the sinful activities performed there. (It is a Vedic system, therefore, for a householder to call brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas to eat at ceremonial performances in his house because the brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas can immunize him from sinful activities. But it is not the duty of rigid brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas to accept invitations everywhere. There is, of course, no objection to taking part in feasts in which prasāda is distributed.) There are many subtle laws which are practically unknown to people in general, but the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very scientifically distributing all this Vedic knowledge for the benefit of the people of the world.
According to Vedic civilization, a brāhmaṇa, or one who is properly qualified to understand the Absolute Truth—that is, one belonging to the most intelligent social order—as well as the devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Muradviṣa, enemy of a demon named Mura, is not subject to the rules and regulations of the state. In other words, upon breaking the laws of the state, everyone can be punished by the government except the brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas. Brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas never transgress the laws of the state or the laws of nature because they know perfectly well the resultant reactions caused by such law-breaking. Even though they may sometimes appear to violate the laws, they are not to be punished by the king. This instruction was given to King Prācīnabarhiṣat by Nārada Muni. King Purañjana was a representative of King Prācīnabarhiṣat, and Nārada Muni was reminding King Prācīnabarhiṣat of his forefather, Mahārāja Pṛthu, who never chastised a brāhmaṇa or a Vaiṣṇava.
We do not find in Vedic literatures that they ever used contraceptive methods, although they were begetting hundreds of children. Checking population by contraceptive method is another sinful activity, but in this age of Kali people have become so sinful that they do not care for the resultant reactions of their sinful lives. King Purañjana lay down with his wife, Purañjanī, and begot a large number of children, and there is no mention in these verses that he used contraceptive methods. According to the Vedic scriptures the contraceptive method should be restraint in sex life. It is not that one should indulge in unrestricted sex life and avoid children by using some method to check pregnancy. If a man is in good consciousness, he consults with his religious wife, and as a result of this consultation, with intelligence, one advances in his ability to estimate the value of life. In other words, if one is fortunate enough to have a good, conscientious wife, he can decide by mutual consultation that human life is meant for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and not for begetting a large number of children. Children are called pariṇāma, or by-products, and when one consults his good intelligence he can see that his by-products should be the expansion of his Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
When the living entity and the life air are gone, the lump of matter produced of five elements—earth, water, air, fire and ether—is rejected and left behind. The living entity then goes to the court of judgment, and Yamarāja decides what kind of body he is going to get next. This process is unknown to modern scientists. Every living entity is responsible for his activities in this life, and after death he is taken to the court of Yamarāja, where it is decided what kind of body he will take next. Although the gross material body is left, the living entity and his desires, as well as the resultant reactions of his past activities, go on. It is Yamarāja who decides what kind of body one gets next in accordance with one's past actions.
Other Books by Srila Prabhupada
Nectar of Devotion
Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead
"My dear King," the Lord said, "because you are a kṣatriya, you have committed the offense of slaughtering animals, both in hunting and in political engagements. To become purified, just engage yourself in the practice of bhakti-yoga and always keep your mind absorbed in Me. Very soon you will be freed from all reactions to such sordid activities." In this statement it appears that although kṣatriyas are allowed to kill animals in hunting, they are not freed from the resultant contamination of sinful reactions. Therefore, whether one is a kṣatriya, vaiśya or brāhmaṇa, everyone is recommended to take sannyāsa at the end of life, to engage himself completely in the service of the Lord and thus become freed from all sinful reactions of his past life.
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
In the Fourth Chapter we have discussed that what sort of work we shall do? That is prescribed. Yajñārthe karmaṇo 'nyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ (BG 3.9). Karma-bandhanaḥ means you become bound up by the resultant reaction. But if you act for yajñārthe-yajñārthe means for Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa—then there will be no reaction, śubhāśubha. Śubha means good, and aśubha means bad. So reaction, either good reaction or bad reaction, you have to take this body. Suppose your... As a result of your good action, you are going to take your birth in the Rockefeller family of America. That's all right. But so far your body is concerned, the body itself is miserable. Don't think that because you are getting your body in some rich family, or in other higher planets, in the demigods planet where you can have a long duration of life... But still, you have got the material body. And as soon as you get this material body, the reaction of the material body—threefold miseries and the miseries of birth, the miseries of death, the miseries of old age, and the miseries of disease—will continue.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
If anyone has become Kṛṣṇa conscious, he has finished all other business. If he simply sticks to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then all other business is automatically finished. That is stated in the śāstra:
- devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṟṇāṁ
- na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇī ca rājan
- sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ
- gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam
- (SB 11.5.41)
"Anyone who takes shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord," the Lord also says, "suppose if you do not do your duty in relationship to your country, to your family, so many we have got obligations. There may be sinful activities." But Kṛṣṇa says, "If you surrender, I will give you protection from the resultant reaction of all sinful activities." The same thing is confirmed in the Bhāgavata. "If anyone gives up all these occupational duties and simply takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is no more servant or debtor or obliged to anyone." For a Kṛṣṇa conscious person, his only duty is to serve Kṛṣṇa.
Brahmānanda: Her question was of the demigods, that you said that they wanted to take their birth in India, but is not the Vedic culture in the heavenly planets?
Prabhupāda: No, heavenly, they... By pious activities they go to the heavenly planets, but they find there inconvenience in God consciousness. Therefore they desire that "By our pious activities we have come to this higher planetary system, and as soon as our reaction, or the resultant action of pious activities will be finished, we shall have to go again to the material, or this Bhūrloka. So if remaining little balance of our pious activities, instead of going anywhere, let us take birth in India." They desire like that. Just like Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, janmāobi more iccha yadi tora kīṭa-janma ha-u..., dāsa tuara, like that. He is praying, "My Lord, I do not know whether I am sufficiently fit to go back to home, to back to Godhead, but my only prayer is that if You think that I have to take birth again, so kindly give me this opportunity that I may take birth in a place..." Kīṭa janma hau yathā dāsa tuyā: "Let me become an insignificant ant in the house of a devotee. If I am going to take birth at all, so give me this concession, that let me take birth as an ant even in the house of a devotee."
Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures
Therefore sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ, on who is actually advanced in knowledge, mahātmā, who has accepted Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, as the Supreme... Here it is also said that kecid kevalayā bhaktyā vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ, aghaṁ dhunvanti. They exterminate all kinds of resultant reaction of sinful activity. Aghaṁ dhunvanti. How it is? Now Kṛṣṇa, Vasudeva, personally says also that "You surrender unto Me." Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). "You give up everything, all other occupation. You simply surrender unto Me." Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo. So this aghaṁ dhunvanti, He destroys all kinds of resultant activities of sinful life. Not he does; it is done by Kṛṣṇa. He says, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo: "I'll help you. I will release you from all kinds of reaction. You simply surrender."
Conversations and Morning Walks
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: "Kṛṣṇa's interest and my interests, different." That is dvandva-moha. When he understands that "My interest and Kṛṣṇa's interest is the same," then it is not dvandva-moha.
Dr. Patel: Dvandva-mohena bhārata.
Mr. Sar: Yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām...
Prabhupāda: Ah. This dvandva-mohaḥ exists with the sinful man, but one who is freed from all sinful reactions, resultant actions, he can understand Kṛṣṇa.
Correspondence
1970 Correspondence
I am now delivering some lectures every Sunday at the L.A. Temple and the series may be called "Sinful Activities and Their Resultant Reactions." They will be transcribed here weekly, and sent to you for editing.
| Page Title: | Resultant reactions |
| Compiler: | Labangalatika, Laksmipriya |
| Created: | 03 of Sep, 2010 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=5, SB=15, CC=0, OB=2, Lec=4, Con=1, Let=1 |
| No. of Quotes: | 28 |