‘Happiness and misery, profit arid loss, are the consequences of Karma, the deeds, words and thoughts of the persons themselves. It has been declared ‘avasyam anu bhokthavyam, krtham Karma subha-asubham’. Good or bad, whatsoever Karma has been done, its consequences have to be willy-nilly suffered or enjoyed. God knows the hardship-filled process of Karma; He confers the appropriate consequences according to the deed. Each one carries on the head; this Divine Command. We are entangled in delusion, and we yield in vain to grief. Why the merit should earn and stored by us in previous lives desert us when we grieve? Can this rule of cause and effect holding sway over the world from before the beginning of the world be set aside for our sake? It is a mad hope’. (RKRV Part I, p. 461)

Suka said: The confusing influence of Maya is the consequence of the accumulated activities in previous lives. One can escape Maya through good actions; one succumbs to it if the actions are deleterious. If good activity has marked previous lives, any sinful tendency will be overwhelmed by virtuous tendencies in this life and one will have faith in Divinity; one will attach himself to the Divine and spend his life, on the basis of the Divine. (Bhag Vahini, p. 213)

Hanuman requested Sita to permit him to punish the demons surrounding her who had put her to great suffering. Sita said, ‘O Hanuman, it is responsibility of the subjects to obey the commands of the king. Just as you obey the command of Lord Rama, these demons also had to obey the dictates of their king. It is not their mistake. They acted according to the instructions of the king. So, it is rather unfair to punish these demons. In fact, I suffered not because of these demons, but because of separation from Shri Rama.’ So saying, she narrated the following story.

Once in a forest, a hunter, on being chased by a tiger, felt tired and climbed up a tree. There was a bear sitting on the top of the tree. The tiger was waiting under the tree as it could not climb up. It was very hungry, so it wanted to gobble up the hunter. It requested the bear to push the hunter down, so that it could kill him and appease its hunger. The bear refused to do so, saying that the hunter was its guest and it was its moral duty to extend hospitality to guests. But, the tiger continued to wait under the tree. After some time, the bear started to doze. Noticing this, the tiger addressed the hunter. ‘O man, I am very hungry. It does not matter whether I eat you or the bear. I will go back once my hunger is satiated. The bear is dozing. I will eat it and spare you.’ The man did not have the morality of even the bear. He thought he could escape from the clutches of the tiger by offering the bear as bait. So, he committed the ungrateful act of pushing the bear down. As luck would have it, the bear, as it was falling, caught hold of a branch, climbed up and saved itself from the tiger. Then the tiger said, ‘O bear, you should never believe the human beings. This hunter tried to harm you, though you were kind enough to give him shelter and protect him. So, without further delay, push the ungrateful wretch down, I shall devour him.’ But the bear said, ‘I have done my duty. Each one has to face the consequences of his own actions. I will not harm him just because he tried to harm me.’ (SSS Vol.32 Part I, pp. 189-190)