More than the drops of the water in all the oceans we might have committed sins in our past lives and also in our present life. Many protests saying that why are we being punished for our sins which we do not even remember. True, due to our limited and tiny senses and mind we tend to forget most of the things which we do in our life. A child may not remember his childhood but his father knows every detail about his child’s activities. Similarly the Supreme Lord is totally cognizant about our previous activities. It is not that he simply keeps on punishing us. In fact he is unwilling to see us suffer. Whatever token punishment comes in our life is just to remind us that we reap what we sow and so we should be extra cautious about our actions.
Lord gives us many opportunities to burn our sins and lead a happy and fulfilling life. How it can be done is explained in Srimad Bhagavatam through the story of Prsadhra. Prsadhra was the son of Vaivasvata Manu [Sraddhadeva]. He had been given the responsibility of protecting the cows. Once in a dark and cloudy night a tiger attacked the cows. Prsadhra immediately went to rescue the cows. And in the melee and due to darkness he mistakenly killed a cow instead of the ferocious tiger. He profusely repented for it. But sadly his spiritual master cursed him to take a low birth in the next life. Prsadhra did not want to suffer. So the first thing he did was that he renounced everything of this world – both physically and mentally. And then he fixed his mind completely on the Supreme God, Vasudeva, and began executing devotional service with utmost faith and determination. By doing this he was successful in nullifying the curse and whatever sins might be there in his life. After achieving purity and love of God he was easily able to transcend this world and he effortlessly entered the spiritual world. His determined devotion saved him from leading an ignominious life in this world.
So if we have been put into difficulty due to our past misdeeds then we should not be morose. There is a way to get out of all the unpalatable situations. We just have to take shelter of the Supreme and benevolent God. He will purify us and we then can have a peaceful, dignified and secure life.
