God is there to discipline any soul, that does not toe the line. We should be grateful for his protection, writes AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI

Imagine a world without God. Everyone is on their own. There is no karmaphala principle. Everything is happening by chance, because with no God, who will enforce the cause and effect rule which is also known as the karmaphala principle. Some people get together like in a dictatorship and control the masses by terrorising them.

You might say that this is happening in several countries, as in the past. But you must remember that the fiercest of the dictators eventually bit the dust. So what does one make of that? Simple, there is someone far superior than any dictator howsoever powerful he/she may be. That is God. We are blessed to have God oversee everything.

Regarding their life span, no dictator could survive for long. However, there are souls who live much beyond hundred years. Some of these special souls live even beyond that. To my knowledge there is a saint who is said to be five hundred years plus old. He comes to attend the ‘Kumbha Mela’ every twelve years. That is how they have estimated his age. He lives in the Himalayas. He is one example, I know of. But, there must be others who have lived for longer years. How does it happen? Because God allows them this privilege. They may wish not to be liberated just yet, having qualified for such a privilege. God can allow them; and only God can, because such souls benefit the mankind by their presence.

To understand this phenomenon, we must get the hang of the cosmic design. There is God, who is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. He is the basis of everything. Everything revolves around Him. He is the one who creates, sets rules (‘maryadas’), which everyone is expected to follow. Those who do are rewarded and those who do not, get punished.

These rewards and punishments are not instantaneous. The Lord Himself sets the example of following all maryadas. Then, there are all of us, souls, all equal. Yes, our material or otherwise bodies differ as also where we are placed in the hierarchy which is based upon our ‘karmas’, good or bad. Our smallness is intrinsic, but this does not prevent us from achieving very big tasks like some scientists do or enlightened saints do. Our smallness also does not prevent some of us from becoming despots, for which we are punished in due course. As the arrangement is eternal, there is no rush for anything. All divine actions are well thought out and absolutely fair.

Back to some souls turning rogue and causing mayhem with assistance of some other willing souls, their smallness comes in the way and they are helplessly punished. Therefore, there is no scope of any soul becoming big at any time; God is the only big soul, and will eternally remain so. This uniform smallness of all souls also excludes giving unfair advantage to any particular soul based on different sizes of their bodies, they being temporary.

God is there to discipline any soul, that does not toe the line, and we should be grateful for the protection granted by the all-powerful God. The system is not complicated. You have done pious deeds and earned privileges. You are expected to make good use of them to make progress in the eternal journey. If these are misused, punishment is on the way once the good deeds have run out. We shouldn’t get fooled by some years of someone’s reign of terror; punishment is coming but in a logical way — the karmaphala way.

In conclusion, we can state that there is the omnipotent God to both protect us and reward us, some rogue souls notwithstanding.

Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com