If one has drunk the poison of offending a devotee, one should, with that same mouth, drink the life-giving nectar of sincerely praising (and serving) that devotee. Haridasa Thakura says, “If anyone offends a sadhu in a moment of delusion and madness, he must fall at the sadhu’s feet and bitterly repent; weeping with full contrition, he must beg for forgiveness. He should declare himself a fallen wretch in need of a Vaisnava’s grace. A sadhu is very merciful; his heart will soften and he will embrace the offender, thus exonerating [pardoning] him from his offenses.” (Hari-nama-cintamani, chapter 5)
In other words, if you have offended a Vaisnava, do not simply continue with your life as if nothing had happened. Turn around 180 degrees! Make up for your bad behavior. Repent, ask for forgiveness and offer some service. Be real, honestly, feel that your behavior was not good at all. A person cannot forgive you from the heart if they do not see that you have actually understood what had gone wrong. The river of forgiveness needs a certain slope in order to flow; this slope is understanding and admitting the mistake you have made.
Comments
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful article. If you permit me, I would like to ask a question.
I was a witness to exactly what you have described above : that a junior devotee committed an offence of offending a very Senior Devotee and continued to do that for at least half an hour; he then fell at the feet of Senior Devotee and while bitterly crying, he asked for Mercy and Forgiveness of Senior Devotee; the Senior Devotee with full Compassion forgave that devotee. This incident happened exactly as you have explained above.
But the whole incident of Offending & forgiving happened in front of around 50 other devotees. We were the witness to the whole incident. I am not sure about others, but it has left a scar on my mind. I feel, I have lost respect for the junior devotee. I am not able to forget that incident. Probably I am not able to forgive that junior devotee who offended the Senior Devotee, though the Senior Devotee forgave him.
My questions are :
1) If such incidence happens in front of witnesses, then is it sufficient for the offending devotee to just seek forgiveness from the offended devotee and be done with it?
2) Or he should do more penance
3) How do I come out of this incident
2) Although I am not convince about it, but am I unknowingly committing an offence against this junior devotee.
Please enlighten me.
Thanks
Yours in Service
Ashok