Sadhana Panchakam, Instruction 3

Translation and Commentary by Jayaram V

1.3. By such actions seek the Lord's forgiveness

Apachiti means loss, decline, destruction, expiation of sin, atonement, worship, etc. Why should we seek God’s forgiveness? It is because we are supposed to live upon earth abiding in the eternal laws and performing God’s duties, acknowledging that all this belongs to God, and we can claim neither ownership nor doership of anything or any action. When we fail to do so, we incur sin. The best way to neutralize it is by seeking his forgiveness, through prayers, supplications and expiatory and sacrificial actions. In the Bhagavadgita we have the assurance that God loves his devotees and forgives them if they seek refuge in him with faith and turn their minds towards him.

The purpose of spiritual practice (sadhana) is twofold. One is to seek divine intervention to lessen our suffering through supplication, and the other is to escape permanently from it through liberation. Both the approaches are approved by the Vedas. One is the way of the householders, and the other is that of the renouncers, yogis and ascetics. The former is achieved through sacrificial actions, and the latter through the renunciation of desires that are hidden in actions and their fruit. It is up to the devotees to choose what is appropriate for them according to their faith and essential nature. 

The two paths lead to different ends. Those who seek God’s forgiveness by performing obligatory duties and making sacrificial offerings go to the ancestral heaven upon death, travelling by the path of the ancestors (pitryana), when the sun is in the southern hemisphere. They stay there until their karma is exhausted, and return to earth to take another birth. Those who achieve liberation, renouncing desires, practicing austerities and withdrawing their minds and senses, travel by the path of gods (devayana) to reach the world of Brahman, where they will stay forever and never return to take another birth.

One should atone for sin through dutiful and desireless actions, devotion, sacrificial worship, righteous conduct and renunciation as suggested by the scriptures. A householder has to seek God’s forgiveness by performing duties as ordained in the Vedas and abiding in virtuous conduct. If you perform your obligatory actions, fulfill your obligations to your family and society, keep your commitment to God, without abandoning Dharma and virtuous conduct, you qualify for the forgiveness of God since it is worship in itself. By that, he may grant you a better life in this life and in the next or a permanent release from the mortal world.

<<Previous   Next>>