Text One 3

prayascittam atho ’partharn
manye kunjara-Saucavat

He compared atonement to an elephant’s bathing. The
elephant may take a very nice bath in the river, but as soon
as it comes onto the bank, it throws dirt all over its body.
What, then, is the value of its bathing? Similarly, many
spiritual practitioners chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra
and at the same time commit many forbidden things, think-
ing that their chanting will counteract their offenses. Of the
ten types of offenses one can commit while chanting the holy
name of the Lord, this offense is called ndémno baldd yasya
hi papa-buddhih, committing sinful activities on the
strength of chanting the Hare Krsna mahd-mantra.
Similarly, certain Christians go to church to confess their
sins, thinking that confessing their sins before a priest and
performing some penance will relieve them from the results
of their weekly sins. As soon as Saturday is over and Sunday
comes, they again begin their sinful activities, expecting to
be forgiven the next Saturday. This kind of prayascitta, or
atonement, is condemned by Pariksit Maharaja, the most in-
telligent king of his time. Sukadeva Gosvami, equally intelli-
gent, as befitting the spiritual master of Maharaja Pariksit,
answered the King and confirmed that his statement con-
cerning atonement was correct. A sinful activity cannot be
counteracted by a pious activity. Thus real prdyascitta,
atonement, is the awakening of our dormant Krsna
consciousness.

Real atonement involves coming to real knowledge, and
for this there is a standard process. When one follows a
regulated hygienic process, he does not fall sick. A human
