Category:God's Punishment
Theme Analysis
This category explores the concept of divine punishment not as an act of vengeance, but as a mechanism of correction and mercy. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the supreme father, His punishment is exactly like a father chastising a child for their welfare. Whether meted out through the laws of material nature for ordinary conditioning or personally delivered to great demons like Rāvaṇa, the result is the ultimate purification of the living entity.
- Punishment as Mercy: Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that God's punishment is actually His favor. It arrests the sinful activities of the living entity and, in the case of demons killed by the Lord, grants them liberation.
- The Inescapability of Divine Law: One may escape state laws, but Śrīla Prabhupāda warns that no one can escape the laws of God. Every action contrary to the Vedas (dharma) incurs a reaction, often manifested as suffering in different species of life.
- Two Modes of Chastisement: Ordinary living entities are punished by the external energy (māyā) through the threefold miseries. However, great demons who challenge the Lord directly are punished by Him personally, which is considered a great fortune.
- The Devotee's Attitude: A devotee accepts tribulation not as punishment, but as a token reaction to past misdeeds, minimized by the Lord's grace. This attitude of acceptance and gratitude further endears the devotee to Kṛṣṇa.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Understanding the Nature of God's Punishment.
Subcategories
This category has the following 5 subcategories, out of 5 total.
B
C
K
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Pages in category "God's Punishment"
The following 57 pages are in this category, out of 57 total.
A
- A devotee knows that so-called punishment by the Supreme Personality of Godhead is only His favor to correct His devotee and bring him to the right path
- A thief who knows that stealing is not good and who knows that it is followed with punishment by a king or by God, who has seen that thieves are arrested and punished by the police, nonetheless steals again and again
- Aggressive materialistic warriors are actually punished by the Supreme Lord for their policy of unnecessarily disturbing world peace
- All people except Krsna conscious devotees are to some proportion pasandis, or demons, and thus they are punishable by the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead
- Although He (the Lord) is sometimes seen to punish someone, this is exactly like a father's punishing his child for the child's welfare
- As one of the demigods, the earthly planet was taking her share in the yajnas but in return she was not producing sufficient food grains. Prthu Maharaja was therefore justified in threatening to punish her for her offense
- As Yamaraja punishes sinful men, I (Ramacandra) shall also punish you. You are most abominable, sinful and shameless. Today, therefore, I, whose attempt never fails, shall punish you
- Atheists do not want God because they're always sinful, and if they think of God, that there is God, then there is a great risk of punishment. They shudder. Therefore they deny God
B
- Bali Maharaja could understand that the Lord had some hidden purpose in punishing him. Consequently he was neither unhappy nor ashamed because of the awkward position in which he had been put by the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Bali Maharaja, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Prahlada Maharaja, remained fixed in his devotion to the Lord, despite the Lord's having punished him
- Being favored by Lord Visnu and being punished by Lord Visnu are one and the same because all the activities of Visnu are absolute
- Blaspheming the Supreme Lord or His devotee is not at all good for the conditioned soul, but Krsna, being very kind, punishes the conditioned soul in one life for such sinful activities and then takes him back home, back to Godhead
G
I
- If we do not take direction from the Vedas but act whimsically according to our own choice, we are sure to be punished by the laws of the Lord, who offers different types of bodies in the 8,400,000 species of forms
- If we do not want to be punished, we have to follow the rules and regulations (sad-dharma). Dharma means "the laws given by God." Dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam - SB 6.3.19
- It is too bad that you are suffering too much. However this may be taken as the mercy of the Lord. If the Lord gives us some inconvenience then we may take it that He has reduced our actual punishment and just given us a token punishment
K
- King Daksa said: My dear Lord Siva, I committed a great offense against you, but you are so kind that instead of withdrawing your mercy, you have done me a great favor by punishing me
- King Prthu was so neutral that if his own son were punishable, he would not hesitate to punish him. On the other hand, if the son of his enemy were innocent, he would not engage in some intrigue in order to punish him
- Krsna does not need to come to punish the petty demons, but when there are great demons like Ravana, Hiranyakasipu and Kamsa, the Lord comes as Lord Ramacandra, Lord Nrsimha-deva or Sri Krsna to punish them
O
- O supremely powerful one, You have always appeared in Your forms as the various incarnations to punish the demons as soon as they become very powerful. You appear as Lord Vamanadeva, Lord Rama and Lord Krsna
- One may possess unusual opulence in this material world, but if one becomes puffed up and acts whimsically he will be punished by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the lesson to learn from this history
- One must follow the instructions of the Supreme Lord: sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja (BG 18.66). If one follows any other system of religion, he is subject to punishment by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in many different ways
S
- Since God is the witness of everyone's actions, He witnesses the actions of the enemies of His devotees & He is inclined to punish them. In other cases He simply witnesses what the living entities do and gives the results of one's sinful or pious actions
- Since Lord Narayana is absolute, His transcendental qualities are described as one. Thus His punishments and His offerings of favor are both of the same value
T
- That supreme controller is observing every bit of one's activity, and He rewards or punishes everyone by giving one a suitable body made by material nature (bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantrarudhani mayaya - BG 18.61
- The club and the wheel are the Lord's symbols of punishment for the demons and miscreants, and the lotus flower and conchshell are used to bless the devotees
- The conditioned souls are being reclaimed by the Lord both ways, namely by the process of punishment by the external energy of the Lord, and by Himself as the spiritual master within and without
- The cursing of Jaya and Vijaya is here repented. Now the Kumaras are thinking in terms of their position in the modes of passion and ignorance, and they are prepared to accept any kind of punishment from the Lord
- The devotee accepts a reversal of his position in life as a benediction by the Lord and consequently offers the Lord more obeisances and prayers, thinking that the punishment is due to his past misdeeds and that the Lord is punishing him very mildly
- The Lord (Ramacandra) punished Ravana and rescued His wife to instruct men to have only one wife
- The manvantara incarnation chastises all the miscreant rulers of different planets with as much power as that of the Lord, who punishes the miscreants with His wheel weapon. The manvantara incarnations disseminate the transcendental glories of the Lord
- The Nagapatnis said, "This apparent punishment of Kaliya is actually some benediction. We consider that Your great mercy is upon us because when You punish someone it is to be understood that the reactions of his sinful activities are eradicated"
- The nondevotees challenge the authority of the Supreme Lord, and therefore the Lord dictates in such a way that the nondevotees forget the Lord's service, life after life, and are punished by the laws of nature
- The punishment awarded by the state or by God for one's own faults is actually for one's benefit
- The punishment awarded by the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be compared to even the greatest benefit awarded by one's material father, mother, brother or friend
- The Supreme Lord's punishment is also a manifestation of the Lord's equality. Therefore the Lord is described as prasantam sama-darsanam
- The Supreme Personality of Godhead punishes them (envious persons) by keeping them in darkness, birth after birth, and pushing them lower and lower into wretched conditions of hellish life
- The wrongdoer is misled by bad associates and by ill advice, which is against the established principles of the Lord's order, and thus he becomes subject to punishment
- Those who are demons and are inimical towards the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are punished by His mace, which is always smeared with the blood of such fallen living entities
- Today You have accepted me as Your servant and have properly punished me for my offense
W
- We are punished by the laws of God for either action. Those who do not believe in the laws of God or in His existence may go on committing such sins
- When a man kills an animal, God, the affectionate father, is perturbed and is pained at heart. Thus the slaughterer of the animal is suitably punished by the material energy, just as a murderer is punished by the government through police action
- When a Vaisnava is offended, the offender is punished by Visnu, the Supreme Lord. No one can protect such a person, even Lord Brahma or Lord Siva
- When God comes personally to punish you, then you are not ordinary. Just like He came to punish Ravana, Kamsa. They are not ordinary. But ordinary person, a little headache is sufficient to finish him
- When He descends, He exhibits superhuman acts just to prove His supreme right, and materialists like Ravana, Hiranyakasipu and Kamsa are sufficiently punished
- When one is distressed he goes to the church or temple to worship the Lord, but when opulent he forgets the Lord. Therefore, punishment by the Lord through material nature is necessary in human society
- When the great mystic yogi Durvasa deliberately attempted to take the life of Ambarisa, the Lord suitably punished Durvasa, even though he was a powerful yogi who could approach all the demigods and even the Lord Himself
- Without it (punishment by the Lord through material nature) men forget the supremacy of the Lord due to their dull, blunt intelligence