Parīkṣit Mahārāja says that, "I accept that unless one atones, then he'll be punished, but what is the value of this atonement?" Just like a man falls diseased. He's habituated to some certain habits, and he falls diseased on account of that. He knows that, "I committed this mistake in respect of my healthy condition, so I'm now punished by this disease." He knows, and he has suffered, but why he commits again? This is the question. Why he commits again?
So Parīkṣit Mahārāja says that dṛṣṭa-śrutābhyaṁ yat pāpaṁ jānann apy ātmano 'hitaṁ (SB 6.1.9). A person knows that this is not good for him. For example, a thief. A thief knows that stealing is not good. It is against law, and against our revealed scriptures also. No religious book or scriptures will say that, "You go on stealing." No. Neither the state laws also allow stealing. A man knows.
And suppose he's stolen in the past, and he was punished, or he sees that one who has stolen property, he is arrested by the police and he's being taken into the custody. He has seen it, he has heard it. We experience. We gather our knowledge by seeing and by hearing. So both things he has done, but still he is stealing. Why? This is the question.
So suppose if I knowingly do something and I make atonement and again I do it . . . or a disease. I know that if I attack this infection I'll suffer, still I, ah, become infected, and again I suffer. Again I go to the physician, he gives me medicine, again I'm cured, again. This is going on. Why this is? He has got experience, and still he has experienced, he has seen, he has heard, he has full knowledge that, "This kind of sinful activity will be fruitful in this way, and I'll have to suffer." Why does he do it? Therefore, he says:
- kvacin nivartate 'bhadrāt
- kvacic carati tat punaḥ
- prāyaścittam atho 'pārtham
- manye kuñjara-śaucavat
- (SB 6.1.10)
"My dear Śukadeva Goswāmī . . ." If a man knows it, by knowing he may refrain for some time from sinful activities, but again he does it. Again he does it. He's forced. He's forced: "Let me do it. All right, I shall suffer. Doesn't matter." But again he suffers, and when he suffers he says: "Oh, I'll not do it again. I'll not do it again. I'll not . . ." But when he's cured, again he does it. Therefore, Parīkṣit Mahārāja . . . the same, confession, or anything you take, atonement. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja is comparing it, kuñjara-śaucavat. It is just like the elephant's taking bath.
The elephant . . . this is natural, one can see, that elephant takes bath very thoroughly. He washes the body in the water, in the tank, very thoroughly for long time, becomes very cleansed. And as soon as he come on the shore he takes some dust and throws it. (laughter) That is nature, you have seen. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja . . . this is just like cleaning the body of an elephant like. The elephant cleanses the body very nicely, but as soon as comes to the land, he takes dust and throws over it. So what is the use of such atonement if I have to commit again? I do it again and again. Again I commit sinful activities, and again I atone. So what is the benefit of this atonement? This is a strong criticism of so-called confession and atonement.
Then because, as Śukadeva Goswāmī is the most intelligent instructor of Bhāgavata principles, the audience, Parīkṣit Mahārāja, he is also very important, very intelligent audience, and he has put this, that "What is the use of this atonement? I don't find any benefit of. If I have to commit the same sinful activities, what is the use of atonement? It is just like the bath taken by the elephant, kuñjara-śaucavat." Therefore he replied:
- bādarāyaṇir uvāca
- karmaṇā karma-nirhāro
- na hy ātyantika iṣyate
- avidvad-adhikāritvāt
- prāyaścittaṁ vimarśanam
- (SB 6.1.11)
"Yes, my dear King, you are right. Your question is very intelligent. Actually, by committing something wrong and reacting it by something else, that is not very beneficial. The real prāyaścitta is knowledge." Real prāyaścitta is knowledge. A thief is committing theft and going to the prison, suffers for six months, again he comes out, and again he commits theft, and within four days again he is put into the prison. We have seen many such cases. He . . . the thief comes out of the jail, and exactly after four days he's again put into the jail. So this action and reaction—one has committed theft, and the reaction is that he is put into the jail—this is not actually beneficial. Real is that thief must be given knowledge. Knowledge.
For want of knowledge, the whole world is suffering for want of knowledge. Therefore Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is giving actual knowledge of the living entity, vimarśanam. Vimarśana means that think over the matter, that "Why I am doing this?" This is called brahma-jijñāsā. This is called brahma-jijñāsā. Means when a person becomes inquisitive about this "Why?" "Why I am suffering?" then he becomes intelligent. Then he comes to the standard of human life. And there is Upaniṣad, Kena Upaniṣad. Kena means "why."
Just like Sanātana Gosvāmī, when he approached Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he placed this question, "Why? Why I am suffering?" Ke āmi', 'kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya' (CC Madhya 20.102). "I do not want to die. Why there is death? I do not want to suffer from disease. Why there is disease? I do not want to take birth. Why I am put into the womb of mother again and again? Janma-mṛtyu jarā-vyādhi (BG 13.9). And I do not want to become old. Why I am forced to become old?" When a person comes to this standard, to inquire, "Why these things are there?" this is real intelligence.