Part VIII — Professor Satya Pachori

PCG 10. Department of Languages and Literature, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL

Professor Satya Pachori: Why does God let virtuous people suffer from sorrow and grief?

Sri Chinmoy: My esteemed Professor, today somebody can be virtuous, but perhaps he was not so yesterday. In this incarnation somebody may be leading a virtuous life, but in his previous incarnation the life that he led may have been totally different. Even in the course of one incarnation we may notice that certain people who are undivine to the extreme in the beginning may eventually become divinity incarnate.

The great sage Valmiki, who wrote the Ramayana, belonged to this group. When he was a young man his name was Ratnakar. He was a notorious robber. Destruction was his very nature. But with the grace of Sri Ramachandra he became compassion incarnate and illumination incarnate. His life embodied the transformation of human nature to its ultimate heights.

It also happens that some people, either consciously or unconsciously, take on the sufferings of their dear ones. In the case of spiritual figures of the highest Height, like the Lord Buddha, Sri Krishna, Jesus Christ and others, what kind of bad things did they do that they had to suffer so much? The answer is that they took humanity's suffering as their own, very own.

When virtuous people suffer, it may be because of something they did in their past lives, or, if their past lives were spotless, soulful, spiritual and divine, they may have consciously or unconsciously prayed to God, "O God, people around me are full of suffering. By Your infinite Grace, You have given me wisdom-light, compassion and concern. Please allow me to take their suffering as my own, very own. Let them be free."

The way a mother cries to take away the suffering of her children, some people try to remove the suffering of their dear ones. It may even come to pass that when death threatens their dear ones, they pray to death to summon them instead.

I shall give you an example from our Indian history. Babar was the first of the great Moghul Emperors of India. He had a son named Humayun, which means 'fortunate'. When Humayun was a young man, he fell seriously ill. Day by day his condition grew worse, until his death seemed imminent. Many people prayed to Allah for Humayun's recovery, but to no avail.

Then a saint came to Babar and said, "If you make a great sacrifice, if you sacrifice something most precious to you, only then will your son be cured."

The Emperor Babar asked, "What kind of thing should I sacrifice?"

The saint replied, "Give away the Kohinoor diamond. It is most precious."

But the Emperor said, "The Kohinoor is my son's possession. What kind of sacrifice would that be? I have to sacrifice something of my own. I have so much wealth and such a vast kingdom. But the most precious Kohinoor diamond is not mine. Therefore, I cannot sacrifice it. And even if I did own the Kohinoor, it would not be a real sacrifice to give it away. Even if I were to give away all my wealth and power — my entire kingdom — I do not think this is the most precious sacrifice that I could make. My life alone is most precious. I am ready to give my life."

Then he walked around his son's bed three times, offering this prayer: "Allah, my most precious possession is my own life. If You wish me to sacrifice something most precious, then take my life instead of my son's. Let me die in his place, and let him live on earth. This is my only prayer and my most willing sacrifice."

To Babar's wide surprise, after he had completed three rounds, his son stood up completely well. But immediately Babar fell ill.

Humayun wept with gratitude and love for his father. He said to Allah, "My father is going to die, but I shall eternally treasure my father's fondness for me, and my father's implicit faith in Your Compassion."

Allah listened to the father's prayer, and in three months' time Babar died. This is the kind of love that a human father can have for his son. This kind of love will gladly welcome undeserved suffering.

To come back to your question, unfortunate things can happen to seemingly virtuous people, and also good things can happen to undivine people. Do they merit it? On the face of it, they do not merit it, but perhaps in their previous incarnations they did something good, and the law of karma is now giving them the fruits. Or possibly it is because God's unconditional Compassion and unconditional Love is operating in and through them for their transformation and perfection. God may choose to make some people happy, although they do not seem to deserve it.