Disciple:
Guru Dev, we call upon God daily. We work tirelessly to survive in this society. Someone must be watching us. He must be judging our sins and virtues. What do you have to say about this?
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Look, you do not have the power to judge sins and virtues. We often say one thing: whatever actions you perform throughout the day, tell them to God at night. Tell Him, "I have performed these actions today." If you have committed a sin for some reasonāand many people commit sins just to surviveāremember that no one is born a sinner. People commit sins based on their circumstances.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Not everyone is a sinner; there are many virtuous souls as well. Our teaching is this: whatever you do during the day, report it to God at night. Whether it is sin or virtue, let Him judge it. We do not have the capacity to judge sins and virtues ourselves. We often don't even know which of our actions are sins and which are virtues.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
If you commit robbery, snatching, or murder, those are clearly sinful acts. God did not send you to Earth for that. God said, "I have sent you to Earth to bring a smile to at least one person's face, and if possible, give them some food." That is virtue. Leave the judgment of sin and virtue to God. He will judge according to the weight of your actions.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
In American courts, you see the statue of Justiceāa woman blindfolded, holding a pair of scales. What is that? It is the judgment of sin and virtue. So, even if I commit a sin, I will tell God, whether you see Him as the Mother, or Shiva, or Durga, or Kali. Whoever your chosen deity is, if you can surrender to them, it is a very good thing.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
I believe every person should keep a notebook. At night, write down what you did that day. If you committed a sin, ask God for forgiveness and vow not to commit that sin again in the future. That is the essence of sin and virtue.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Who truly understands sin and virtue? For example, suppose a mother cannot feed her child, and the child is suffering from hunger. If she steals a loaf of bread or some rice from someoneās house, would you call that a sin or a virtue? You see, you do not have the power to judge. That judgment belongs to the Creator.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
No one is born a sinner; everyone is born as a pure soul. But due to circumstances and societal pressure, people might do wrong things. However, it is said that if you sin, God forgives you. Consider Shishupala. When he was dealing with Lord Krishna, Krishna told him, "Commit a hundred sins, and I will forgive you." God means forgiveness. God says, "Learn to forgive." This is from the GitaāKrishnaās words. Learn how to forgive people. Krishna gave Shishupala a boon that he would forgive 100 sins, but He would not forgive the 101st. Shishupala committed that 101st sin, and Narayan was compelled to slay him.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
People may not realize it, but everything is being recorded. He is always watching you. You could say there is a CCTV camera inside your body, within your soul, observing everything. You cannot escape it. Even if you do something wrong with a cold mind, without anyone knowing, it is recorded.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Leave the judgment of sin and virtue to God; He is the authority. If you commit many sins, you will have to be born into a life of suffering in the next birth. Consider Vidura. In his previous life, he was Dharmaraj (the God of Justice). When he was a boy, he saw someone catching a grasshopper and piercing it with a stick. The grasshopper was suffering. Vidura, as Dharmaraj in his previous life, cursed that person.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
But our rule is that until someone gains consciousness and knowledgeāusually around age elevenāyou cannot curse them. Vidura had ignored this and given the curse. Lord Brahma saw this and told Vidura, "Even though you are Dharmaraj, in your next life, you will live in a house of unrighteousness (Adharma)." And that is what happened. In the Kurukshetra war, Vidura was a general, but he did not take up arms. Because it was a house of sināDuryodhanaās sināhe lived there but did not eat their food.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
So, sin and virtue are not just about this life. If someone committed sins in a previous life, it will be reflected in this life. Let me tell you a short story to help you understand. Two friends went to a sage, a "Brahmagya" (one who knows the Supreme Truth). They asked, "Will you initiate us?" The sage said, "I can initiate you, but can you maintain it? First, I will test you. If you pass, come back and I will initiate you."
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
He gave each of them a pigeon. He said, "Go and kill this pigeon in a place where no one can see you. If anyone sees you, it won't work. I will know everything from here." Both took their pigeons and wandered around. Wherever they went, there were people, or cows, or goatsāsomeone was always watching. One of the boys was clever. He took a cloth from home. After wandering all day and being unable to find a place where no one was watching, he thought, "If I cover the pigeon with this cloth and wring its neck, no one will see." So, he wrung its neck under the cloth, thinking that since there were no people around, no one saw. He went back to the Guru and said, "Here, no one saw me." The Guru said, "Alright, wait for the other one to return."
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
The second boy, every time he tried to wring the pigeon's neck, he saw the pigeon's eye watching him. He felt the pigeon was saying, "Why are you killing me? Just for a small initiation, you will kill me?" Every time he tried, he saw that eye. He felt the pigeon asking, "I haven't done anything wrong, why kill me?" He tried many times in secluded places where there were no people, but he couldn't do it because he felt the pigeon was watching him and questioning him.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
The Guru said, "You are the right person. Because you realized that whatever action you perform is being recorded. We have an internal CCTV camera. Whatever you do, it is caught. You cannot escape it. We have a 'Paramatma' (Supreme Soul) within us. You can call Him Chitragupta, or the assistant to Yamaraj (the God of Death). He is noting everything. He is the Supreme Soul who follows you at all times. The 'Atma' (individual soul) is restless; it doesn't care about these things. But the Paramatma is steady and silent. He notes everything and judges. Your own soul judges you."
Disciple:
Guru Dev, I have a question. When someone commits a grave sin, people say, "You will have to suffer the punishment. Yamaraj will punish you after death." What is the meaning of this?
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
In our current social system, when we do not get proper justice, we say these things. We have courts of law, but everything is being bought and sold with money. In the place where I am supposed to get justice, things are corrupted. As Iāve said before, a book of law costs five rupees, but the book on how to break the law costs five hundred rupees. When laws are made, loopholes are created so that certain people can escape. Injustice has spread across the country. If you have money or political power, people will support your sins. This is how the "infection" of sin spreads. A powerful man's sins are not judged by men. Only God can judge him.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
That is why we say, when we don't get justice on Earth, we turn to God and say, "God will judge you." When no other path is open, God becomes our only resource.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Yes, the cup of sin gets filled. Like the story of Shishupala, God sets a limit. He says, "Do not go beyond this." But humans ignore that limit. They are blinded by greed for money and power. They have no sense of proportion. God has a limit, but common people don't know it. They commit one sin after another. They are supported by the "leaders" or the powerful people of the village or society, and so crime increases. They think, "If he can do it, why can't I?" They join a political party and commit all sorts of crimes in God's name. The result is terrible.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
Some people tell me, "He committed so many sins and then just died suddenly." I tell them, God took him away like that, but think about his next birth. A man might commit great sins and then die in an accident before he could even see a doctor. People ask, "He's dead now, so how will he suffer for his sins?" I say, the sin is carried over to the next birth. He had that much time in this life, so God ended it, but the next life He gives will be terrifying.
Guru Shyama Khyapa:
So, you don't have the power to judge. God will judge. Surrender to Him. Surrender both your sins and your virtues to Him. You have no other way. "Nanya pantha vidyate" (There is no other way). Understand Him, know Him, and surrender. Do your work, but do not obsess over the results. Surrender your actions to Him. But people don't do this. They are driven by the heat of their blood and the ego of their wealth. Let them be.
Spiritual Insight
Guru Shyama Khyapa reminds us that while we may escape human justice through power or wealth, we cannot escape the "Internal CCTV" of the soul. The Paramatma within records every action, and the law of Karma ensures that justice is eventually served, if not in this life, then in the next. The path to peace lies in surrendering our actions to the Divine and living with the awareness that we are always being watched by the Supreme Soul.