Permanent Solution for the Coronavirus Pandemic

Permanent Solution for theCoronavirus Pandemic

Shri Phani asked: How to overcome such calamities as all the worldis facing now due to the present horrible virus?

Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! A kingpassed a rule in his kingdom which was to be followed by all citizens. Thecitizens who failed to follow the rule were to be punished. Some citizensviolated the rule and were punished by the court of law (dharmāsanam)present in the kingdom.

Now, suppose these punished violators praise the king alot and pray to him, will the king cancel their punishment using his supremepower? The other citizens who followed his rule were not punished, even thoughthey never praised the king. Hence, the main point here is to follow therule of the king. Whether citizens praise the king or not is immaterial.

If youreplace the king with God and the kingdom with this entire world, you will beable to relate the above story to the present context. God has given the divineconstitution called the Dharma Śāstra, to humanity through ancient sages. Everysoul is expected to follow that divine constitution of God.

The constitutionrecommends doing certain meritorious deeds and prohibits sinful deeds. If onedoes not do the meritorious deeds, one only misses some benefit like going toheaven. But if one commits sin, one faces inevitable punishment. The punishmentincludes being sent to hell after death and undergoing suffering there. But it alsoincludes hell-like punishment here on earth, when the sin committed is highlyintense (Atyutkaṭaiḥ pāpa puṇyaiḥ, ihaiva phalamaśnute).

Thepresent calamity is punishment given by God to souls here on earth. Hence, itis indeed the result of the intense sins done by the souls in this world.

Followingjustice, doing meritorious deeds and not committing sin is the path of pravṛttior worldly life. Devotion to God, which includes praising God, is the path of nivṛttior spiritual life. A soul’s efforts in nivṛtti do not save the soul fromthe punishment of violating pravṛtti. Hence, praying to God will notstop this calamity, since it is the punishment for the sins committed by soulsin worldly life (pravṛtti).

Pravṛtti and nivṛtti areindependent fields and nivṛtti never interferes with pravṛtti.Even if a soul is an atheist, but if he or she follows pravṛtti (worldlyjustice) strictly, the soul will not face any punishment. By avoiding sin, onecertainly avoids the punishment of sin. Such a person will escape the infectioneven in the present epidemic.

The threemain sins mentioned in the Gita “Kāmaḥ krodhaḥ tathā lobhaḥ…” aregiven below and briefly explained:

1. Illegitimate sex: Sex with anyone except one’s legitimate married life-partner is sin.
2. Illegitimate anger: The unjust anger or violence shown towards good people and harmless living beings is sin. Not showing the appropriate anger or force towards bad people is also a sin.
3. Illegitimate greed: All forms of corruption, and theft are sin. Being miserly and avoiding donation to deserving recipients is also sin. Further, irrationally donating to undeserving receivers is also a sin.

Thesethree main sins are to be strictly avoided by all people. Being ethical,following justice and strictly avoiding sin is the minimum and maximumexpectation of God from any soul, be it a theist or an atheist. If the peopleof a country can pray to God in the following manner, this calamity can beavoided in that country. Even people who do not believe in God can make thefollowing resolve and abide by it. They too shall be protected. The prayer orresolve is as follows:

Let me propagate the message of doing meritorious deeds and not doingsins, extensively in society. By repeatedly propagating this message of livingethically in society, not only do I imbibe it fully, but the public alsoimbibes it fully. It brings reformation in me as well as in the society aroundme. At the very least, it reduces the intensity of sin. All souls including mewill, at least, sincerely try to reduce the intensity of their sin.

Evenatheistic countries and atheists within different countries can make thisresolve because it makes no reference to God. However, atheists must accept theinevitable force with which the sins of mankind get punished by nature. Thismere invisible virus has brought the whole world to a halt and left even theworld leaders trembling in fear. At the time of the final destruction, thefinal Incarnation of God called Kalki, using the electric sword (vidyut khadga)given by Lord Śiva, will destroy almost all the souls in the world withunimaginable speed. It will be a million times faster than the spread of thepresent virus!