A common space for harmonic peacemakers

V: 15

Chapter 5, Verse 15

"The Self does not partake of

Anyone's virtuous or evil actions.

When knowledge of the Self

Is obscured by ignorance,

People act badly."

Sri Ramakrishna:

"The burning lamp gives light to one and all around it. Some use the light for reading sacred books, while others use it for forging documents. The merits and demerits of these several acts do not in any way affect the light coming from the lamp.

The pure consciousness equally present in all beings makes all sorts of activities possible in them, because of its presence. Good and bad deeds do not affect pure consciousness, which is the Self."

Srila Prabhupada:

“The Supreme Lord is always satisfied in Himself, undisturbed by sinful or pious activities. He does not create a particular situation for a living entity, but the living entity, bewildered by ignorance, desires to be put into certain conditions of life, and thereby the chain of action and reaction is set into motion.

When the living entity is bewildered by desires, the Lord allows it to fulfill those desires. Because the embodied soul identifies itself with the circumstantial, material body, it becomes subjected to the temporary misery and happiness of life.

Because the Lord is the constant companion of the living entity, He understands the desires of the individual soul, as one can smell the perfume of a flower by being near it.”