Returning to the Eternal Religion 249

na ced ihaivapacitim yathamhasah
krtasya kuryan mana-ukta-panibhih

dhruvam sa vai pretya narakan upaiti
ye kirtita me bhavatas tigma-yatanah

“Yes, I’ve already described the different types of hellish conditions and
very severe painful life, but one has to counteract it.”” [Bhdg. 6.1.7]

How can this be done? Sinful activities are committed in various ways.
We can commit sinful activity or thus make a plan, thinking, ‘‘I shall kill
that man.”’ Either way, it is sinful. When the mind is thinking, feeling,
and willing, then there is action.

The other day I was reading in a-book that if someone’s dog barks at
you when you are passing on the road, then that is an offense on the part
of the dog-owner, according to law. No one should have to be scared by
dogs barking, so one should take care of his dog. I read this. It is a law in
your country. The dog is simply barking, but it is sinful. The dog is not
responsible, because it is an animal, but because the owner of the animal
has made the dog his best friend, he is responsible by law. If an outside
dog enters your house, it may not be killed, but the owners of the dog
may be prosecuted. _ r

Just as the barking of the dog is unlawful, so when you speak some-
thing offensive to others, that is also sinful. That is just like barking.
Therefore sinful activities are committed in so many ways. Whether we
think of sinful activities, or we speak something sinful, or we actually
commit a sinful activity, they are all considered sinful activities. Dhruvam
sa vai pretya narakan upaiti. One has to suffer punishment for such sinful
activities.

People do not believe in a next life because they want to avoid this
botheration. But we cannot avoid it. We must act according to the law, or
we will be punished. Similarly, I cannot avoid God’s law. That is not
possible. I can cheat others, commit theft, and hide myself, thereby sav-
ing myself from the punishment of the state law, but I cannot save myself
from the superior law, the law of nature. It is very difficult. There are so
many witnesses. The daylight is witness, the moonlight is witness, and
Krsha is the supreme witness. You cannot say, ‘‘I am committing this
sin, but no one can see me.””

Krsna is the supreme witness sitting within your heart. He notes down
what you are thinking and what you are doing. He also gives facility.
If you want to do something to satisfy your senses, Krsna gives the
facility for that action. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita. Sarvasya
