God is very merciful but you will be punished for your sins. Everybody knows this. Nobody can escape the results of the sins committed. But, out of compassion, God delays the punishment for your sin. If he punishes you as soon as you commit the sin, then you will come to know for which mistake you have been punished and you fear to commit sin. With such fear, that sin will not be committed again. But, the bad attributes that the mind is attached to will not be vanished. There is no inner transformation at all.

For that to happen, one must know that one has committed a mistake and that it causes pain to others. From that pain, affection on others should arise. We must understand this very well. Only when such transformation happens, the bad attributes will be washed away from the mind.

Hence, God, despite having the capability, does not punish. God postpones the punishment till the person attains the sattvic nature. Even if one has attained such saintliness, God punishes. This is because the attitude to commit sin should not arise. This kind of punishment appears tough externally but it involves so much of reasoning filled with compassion. With the efforts of God again and again, human becomes eligible for good births in the future. We must remember this every now and then.

Gradually, the punishments reduce and man tries to attain divinity. This is a very lengthy process and there is no other short cut for this either. Hence, God, out of compassion punishes man for his mistakes only to absolve him of all sins. When man is completely free from sins, he attains godliness. This is the ultimate goal for humans.

Accepting the punishments given by God for our sins is the only best way. Many people blame God for punishing them. They must consider such punishments like blessings. God has mixed both punishments and blessings and created a birth. He gives a break called death in between and further gives another birth. We can take the example of a justice in a court. Just like a man is purified with the punishments given by the justice, he is purified in a similar way when God gives punishments.

We listen to three words very often - Training, Punishment and protection. The one who trains us is giving the punishment and with that we are protected too. God’s way of protection appears initially in the form of punishment. But, we must not blame him. Punishment is a form of compassion. It is the first step. Let this message ring your ears. With the grace of Datta, may you accept the God’s punishments with wisdom! I pray Goddess Basara Saraswathi to bless you.

Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!