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You get back four times what you give: this is the law of karma

Expressions researched:
"I take from you one cent, I have to pay you with four cents" |"I take one paisa from you without any service, I have to pay you four paisa" |"I will have to pay you four times this life or next life" |"and you have to pay him with interest and compound interest" |"by contributing this one hundred dollars you are now bound up to take payment of four hundred dollars" |"laws of nature is that if you give one by charity, you get four" |"you'll get that money back four times, five times, or ten times more in your next life"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Suppose you are preparing yourself to conquer over the next life, but by contributing this one hundred dollars you are now bound up to take payment of four hundred dollars; therefore you have to take your birth. These are subtle laws.
Lecture on BG 2.58-59 -- New York, April 27, 1966:

Sacrifice means to please the Supreme Lord. That is the sacrifice, meaning of sacrifice. Otherwise sacrifice has no meaning. Sacrifice means... Suppose you have got one thousand dollars in your pocket. Now you sacrifice it. You spend it for some good cause. "Oh, this man has sacrificed one hundred dollars." But that sort of sacrifice is also cause of your bondage. Now, suppose you have given to a poor man one hundred dollars to help. Now, the, according to law of karma, you have given one hundred dollars to a poor man to help him. This means that the poor man has to pay you four hundred dollars in your next life, with interest and compound interest. And you will have to take that four hundred dollars. And suppose you are preparing yourself to conquer over the next life, but by contributing this one hundred dollars you are now bound up to take payment of four hundred dollars; therefore you have to take your birth. These are subtle laws. If we are to believe the Vedic literature, the law of karma, these are stated there. We may take it or not take it. That is a different thing. Just like if you deposit in the bank one hundred dollars. So if you forget, twenty years after you will have to take two hundred dollars. The bank will pay you, either you like to take it or not take it. Just like we have this law in this ordinary life, similarly, anything, good action or bad action, we have to suffer or enjoy the result. That is called reaction. But sacrifice for the cause of the Supreme Lord, that has no reaction. This is also bright side. There are so many wrong side also.

If you give in charity somebody, say, some amount of money, you'll get that money back four times, five times, or ten times more in your next life. That is a fact. So Vaiṣṇava philosophy says that this is also sinful. Why sinful? Because you have to take your birth to receive that compound interest.
Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Los Angeles, December 2, 1968:

This material world, our activities are all sinful activities. There is action and reaction. Whatever you are doing, there is action and reaction. Even there is good reaction, still it is sinful. Still it is sinful. Just like according to Vedic literature, pious activities, the result of pious activities... Janmaīśvarya-śruta-śrībhiḥ (SB 1.8.26). Suppose you are not acting anything sinful in this life, you are very pious in every respect. You are charitable, you are benevolent, everything is all right. But Bhagavad-gītā says that it is karma-bandhana. If you give in charity somebody, say, some amount of money, you'll get that money back four times, five times, or ten times more in your next life. That is a fact. So Vaiṣṇava philosophy says that this is also sinful. Why sinful? Because you have to take your birth to receive that compound interest. That is sinful. Now suppose you are born in a very rich family. The trouble of being in the womb of the mother, that is the same. Either you are pious man or the impious man, when you are in the womb of your mother the difficulties and the pains perceived within the womb of the mother is the same, either you are black or white, either you are Indian or American or cat or dog or anyone. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9). The troubles of birth, the troubles of death, and the troubles of disease, and the troubles of old age are everywhere the same. It is not that because you are born in a very rich family, you'll be immune from diseases. It is not that you'll not become old. It is not that you'll be saved from the troubles of birth or you'll be saved from the troubles of death.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

If you take one cent from somebody else without doing something good to him or without exchanging something, then you are debtor, and you have to pay him with interest and compound interest. That is the law of karma.
Lecture on SB 1.5.13 -- New Vrindaban, June 16, 1969:

In India, according to Vedic civilization, one is very much afraid of taking loan from others because he has conviction, "If I do not pay, then in my next life I'll have to pay many times. So I must liquidate my debt." That's a fact. If you take one cent from somebody else without doing something good to him or without exchanging something, then you are debtor, and you have to pay him with interest and compound interest. That is the law of karma. You cannot take anything. We are debtor to so many things. People have no idea. Devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṟṇām (SB 11.5.41). These are stated in the śāstras, that we are indebted, debtor to the demigods. Just like we are getting so much sunlight. We are enjoying: "Oh, today is a very nice day." But do we pay any tax? Do we pay anything? No. But in the Vedic injunction there is sun-god worship. Therefore we find that so many demigods' worship, yajñas. The feeling that "I am taking so much advantage from the sunshine, so I must give him something," this is called sacrifice.

This was India. They knew that "I cannot cheat you." Karmī, in the karma-kāṇḍa, if I cheat you, then I will have to pay you four times this life or next life. That is the law of karma.
Lecture on SB 1.5.33 -- Vrndavana, August 14, 1974:

Suppose one has no money, then how to get money? Either cheat somebody, beg, or beg. But begging for gṛhastha is not very good thing, but sometimes they do so. Beg, borrow, or promising, "Give me now money, I shall pay you." And when credit is lost, then steal, pickpocket. This is as theory. Similarly, Carvaka Muni, ṛṇaṁ kṛtvā ghṛtaṁ pibet, never mind. "No, I will have to pay." "No, that we shall see later on, never mind." "No, I will be sinful, I will have to pay next life." This is within the blood of every Indian that if I cheat you or if I take some money from you without your benefit, without repayment, then I will have to suffer. Still in India they believe this. There are some incidences that a man, father took some loan from some gentleman and his father died, and his son came to pay the money to the creditor: "Sir, my father took so much money from you. Now my father died without payment. So I have got money, you kindly take it." He says, "Let me see my book whether your father took it." So he said, "All right, consult." So after consulting the books, he said, "I don't find any item that I gave loan to your father." "No, sir, I know, my father said at the time of death that 'I owe so much money to that gentleman, I could not pay; you pay it.'" So the trouble was the man says "I don't find any debit to your father's name. How can I take your money?" And he is insisting, "Yes, my father took money from you, kindly take." This was India. This was India. They knew that "I cannot cheat you." Karmī, in the karma-kāṇḍa, if I cheat you, then I will have to pay you four times this life or next life. That is the law of karma.

If you remain in the business of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then there is excuse. Otherwise, everyone is become obliged. If I take from you one cent, I have to pay you with four cents, with interest, compound interest. This is the law of karma.
Lecture on SB 7.6.9 -- New Vrindaban, June 25, 1976:

Here is a living entity, part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. Samaḥ sarveṣu—he should not be unnecessarily killed. We should be careful, not that "Trample over the ants and let them be killed." No, everything should be carefully done. Of course, we cannot stop this, but we should be careful, and if it is done, then if we remain Kṛṣṇa conscious, Kṛṣṇa will excuse. Yajñārthe karmaṇo 'nyatra. Therefore the business should be, if we walk at all, we shall walk for Kṛṣṇa. Then if some ant is killed—not knowingly, unknowingly—then we are untouched by these sinful activities. Otherwise, we are immediately noted down, "Here is a man, he has killed, he has..." The nature's law is so minute. Every minute, the account is there. But if you remain in the business of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then there is excuse. Otherwise, everyone is become obliged. If I take from you one cent, I have to pay you with four cents, with interest, compound interest. This is the law of karma. We are... Just like taking money from others. Unless we spend it for Kṛṣṇa, then we shall be obliged to return.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

So even taking, accepting that good work is nice, but it is also bondage. Suppose you give in charity. So the laws of nature is that if you give one by charity, you get four. So now to accept that four, you have to take birth again.
The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 25, 1973:

We are under the control of the material nature. Everyone can realize it. Nobody can be free. But the process of freedom is also stated there: Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā, mām eva ye prapadyante (BG 7.14). If anyone takes to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, surrenders there, and be engaged in His service, then these laws of nature will be slackened, or almost nil. Karmāṇi nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhājām (Bs. 5.54). These are the statements of the śāstras. Laws of material nature means karma. You act in a certain way and you get the result, good or bad; that is called karma. Sat-karma or asat-karma. Actually everything is asat-karma. Antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām (BG 7.23). So even taking, accepting that good work is nice, but it is also bondage. Suppose you give in charity. So the laws of nature is that if you give one by charity, you get four. So now to accept that four, you have to take birth again. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, karma-kāṇḍa jñāna-kāṇḍa sakali viṣera bandha. Karma-kāṇḍa means if you act very piously, next life you get good birth, good opulence, money, janma iśvarya-śruta, good education, beautiful body. These are the resultant actions of sat-karma. And asat-karma means you become poor, ugly, without any education, no riches, always hungry. These are the results of asat-karma. So this is called karma-kāṇḍa. And jñāna-kāṇḍa means to try to merge into the existence of the Lord, which, even if we do, but because you are under the impression of impersonalism, you again fall down. So both by the action of karma-kāṇḍa and jñāna-kāṇḍa one is not secure. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, sakali viṣera bandha. Poison, either in a golden pot or in iron pot, it is the..., the effect is the same. So bhakti is neither for karma-kāṇḍa nor for jñāna-kāṇḍa. Jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam (CC Madhya 19.167). That is real bhakti.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Why he should become guru? Why he should accept service from so many people if he cannot rightly direct them? Then he becomes bound up by the karma laws. If I take one paisa from you without any service, I have to pay you four paisa.
Morning Walk -- March 14, 1976, Mayapur:

Prabhupāda: Don't talk like foolish. That desire everyone has. He is serving. He is serving so many things, but he doesn't want to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is his foolishness. He is serving māyā; still, he denies to serve Kṛṣṇa. That is his misfortune. Ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kono bhāgyavān jīva (CC Madhya 19.151). So unless one is very fortunate, he does not agree to serve Kṛṣṇa.

Madhudviṣa: So that future is determined by the great souls, such as yourself.

Prabhupāda: No, that...

Madhudviṣa: Because you are creating people's good fortune.

Prabhupāda: Fortune, there. It is already there. I am simply informing.

Madhudviṣa: No, but you actually engage them in ajñāta-sukṛti, meritorious activities, even unwillingly performed.

Prabhupāda: But this is the duty of everyone. One should not.... That is enjoined in the.... Gurur na sa syāt: "One should not become a guru if he cannot do that." Otherwise he is cheating. Why he should become guru? Why he should accept service from so many people if he cannot rightly direct them? Then he becomes bound up by the karma laws. If I take one paisa from you without any service, I have to pay you four paisa.

Page Title:You get back four times what you give: this is the law of karma
Compiler:Labangalatika
Created:11 of Oct, 2009
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=6, Con=1, Let=0
No. of Quotes:7