This is not the only birth. Births are endless. Based on the individual’s past actions his destiny for a birth is drawn up. There is a diary maintained for every living entity in which actions of their past, present are all recorded.

A saint like Ramana Maharishi suffered. Why? He had to exhaust his karma. Why did Rama suffer? He could not be by his father when the latter was dying. He could not perform the last rites for his father. What could be more sorrowful than this? Jesus Christ was nailed. He was such a noble saint. All his life He worked for the well-being of others. He supplied food to the needy. He used his supernatural energy for the well-being of others. But then, how did society respond? They nailed Him.

Mohammed was declared insane by people. Kanakadasa, who was a noble saint, was accused to be a thief and was hammered mercilessly. Ramdas, a pious saint was tortured. In front of them, what are we?

Everything runs per our destiny. Our past deeds alone are responsible for it. Was Prahlāda not tormented by his father? Why did the Lord not manifest instantly and rescue him? Why did the Lord take time to respond to Draupadi when her self-respect was being taken away? From these incidents it is evident that the individual’s destiny has a significant role to play.

In this birth your professor was kind, generous and cheerful person who readily helped others. Despite his troubles, he did not accuse anyone for it. Nor did he mingle with evil persons discarding his goodness. He maintained his nobleness till the very end.

Just because you think that despite devotion to God noble persons are being troubled while the atheists are prospering, will you go and join the band of atheists? If you join them, you will lose on both counts. You will be neither here nor there.

If you had truly sympathized with your professor who died from cancer, why did you not give away your merit (punya) to him? Why did you not give up your life for him? You cannot. You can only sympathize with him. **Just as yesterday’s food joins the blood stream today, the past actions of a person alone cause the present sufferings. Remember this always. **

When you see noble persons, salute them. When you see the wicked, stay away from them. Stay only on the side of the good. You loved your professor. So cultivate the good habits you observed in him. Learn to be smiling and eternally helpful like him. Learn to be happy till the end just as your professor was.

In the process of sympathizing, you are drifting away from the noble path. You are getting spoilt. You are now beginning to feel that atheists are prospering. There are many who joined the group of wicked believing they would prosper. But to date they are still sunk in troubles. It is their destiny. Do not waste time dilly-dallying. Figure out what is beneficial to you really. The bad will pay for their sins. It is inevitable. Did Hiranyaksha not have to pay for his sins? If not in this birth, in the next birth they may face. It is not our problem. We should not even discuss their future. It is not our business. Even among four brothers, one becomes a millionaire while another remains a pauper. Why? It goes to the extent wherein the millionaire brother does not even bother to help the pauper brother. This is destiny.

Observe the lives of great saints. All of them experienced a lot of pain. Even Krishna’s life was full of problems. Even in the last minute He was pierced by an arrow. Why did He need this karma? But He laughingly went through it. Even Rama went through all problems.

Even in death your professor taught you an important lesson. He taught you to accept death cheerfully. Learn from him these good lessons. Your professor has paid for his past actions. In his next birth he will be happy.