Five Justifications For Forgiveness

By krishnasmercy on December 19, 2025 • ( 0 )

“Prahlada Maharaja said: O Supreme Lord, because You are so merciful to the fallen souls, I ask You for only one benediction. I know that my father, at the time of his death, had already been purified by Your glance upon him, but because of his ignorance of Your beautiful power and supremacy, he was unnecessarily angry at You, falsely thinking that You were the killer of his brother. Thus he directly blasphemed Your Lordship, the spiritual master of all living beings, and committed heavily sinful activities directed against me, Your devotee. I wish that he be excused for these sinful activities.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.10.15-17)

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श्रीप्रह्राद उवाच
वरं वरय एतत्ते वरदेशान्महेश्वर
यदनिन्दत्पिता मे त्वामविद्वांस्तेज ऐश्वरम्
विद्धामर्षाशय: साक्षात्सर्वलोकगुरुं प्रभुम्
भ्रातृहेति मृषाद‍ृष्टिस्त्वद्भ‍क्ते मयि चाघवान्
तस्मात्पिता मे पूयेत दुरन्ताद् दुस्तरादघात्
पूतस्तेऽपाङ्गसंद‍ृष्टस्तदा कृपणवत्सल

śrī-prahrāda uvāca
varaṁ varaya etat te
varadeśān maheśvara
yad anindat pitā me
tvām avidvāṁs teja aiśvaram

viddhāmarṣāśayaḥ sākṣāt
sarva-loka-guruṁ prabhum
bhrātṛ-heti mṛṣā-dṛṣṭis
tvad-bhakte mayi cāghavān

tasmāt pitā me pūyeta
durantād dustarād aghāt
pūtas te ’pāṅga-saṁdṛṣṭas
tadā kṛpaṇa-vatsala

1. Because my faith tells me to

“I come here today to announce to everyone that I have forgiven. Already. Almost as soon as the incident happened, in fact. I will forever be impacted by this tragedy. My family will never again speak to the person who has departed. The perpetrator acted with vengeance, with no regard for what others might have to go through. I still forgive them. This is because my faith tells me to. That is the power of my faith. I hope everyone is watching, to see how special this religion is.”

2. Because you asked me to

“Will I forgive you? You are asking me, after all these years? That incident happened so long ago. I forgave almost as soon as it went down. It is still nice to hear your apology. I do appreciate it. Thank you for thinking of me.”

3. Because of what you did to me

“That was one of the worst offenses I have ever experienced. You yelled and screamed at me, in front of so many people. I had done nothing wrong. In fact, it was you who had messed up. I could have easily retaliated. I knew the people in charge. They could have gotten rid of you. But I didn’t. I decided to forgive. I actually felt sorry for you, for being such a miserable human being. I would hate myself if I ever behaved the same way.”

4. Because of what they did to me

“I am here today to ask something. I would like this person to be forgiven. They committed a horrible wrong against me. They have changed my life forever. I will never get that time back. Still, you are the ones in charge of their fate. I ask that you be lenient. I do not wish for this person to suffer in the same way that I did.”

5. Because of what they did to You

As they say it is better to give than to receive, it is usually better to forgive than to hold on to the resentment. To keep this perpetual rivalry with someone. To be upset with a person who had no idea what they were doing. After all, from something small and trivial like kama, a person can quickly spiral into full-blown madness, where they are no longer able to distinguish between right and wrong.

यया धर्ममधर्मं च कार्यं चाकार्यमेव च
अयथावत्प्रजानाति बुद्धि: सा पार्थ राजसी

yayā dharmam adharmaṁ ca
kāryaṁ cākāryam eva ca
ayathāvat prajānāti
buddhiḥ sā pārtha rājasī

“And that understanding which cannot distinguish between the religious way of life and the irreligious, between action that should be done and action that should not be done, that imperfect understanding, O son of Pritha, is in the mode of passion.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.31)

Imagine if you had a meeting with the highest being of all. Though He is commonly depicted in the resting position, lying on the serpent bed known as Ananta, accepting a massage of His feet by the goddess of fortune, the Supreme Personality of Godhead can still make things happen. If He decides to intervene in a matter, no one can outrank Him. If He wants something to happen, it will. This is the meaning to satya-sankalpa.

Imagine that God has appeared for you, unexpectedly, but solely for your protection. More than acting as a shield against wicked perpetrators, He has decided the period of peace is over. He will inflict lethal damage against people who had previously tried to kill you. They tried in so many ways, but those attempts failed. Miraculously, you survived. Now it was the lead villain scrambling to save himself. Alas, there was no hope for him. Vishnu as Narasimha does not lose.

The above reviewed situations offer glimpses into the various ways a person might ask for or extend forgiveness. But what should happen if the evildoer is no longer around? What if you are not offended by what has happened to you? What if you are asking for forgiveness when no one else will really appreciate you for it? What if you have already impressed the highest being of all? Will you still forgive?

Interestingly, Prahlada asked for forgiveness against the offenses made to God. Though only five years of age, Prahlada inherently understood that the reason Narasimha stood before him was the offense from the father, Hiranyakashipu, against a devotee. Since Prahlada was devoted to Vishnu, Hiranyakashipu felt compelled to attack. Since the attacks were against a devotee, Vishnu felt the need to intervene. It was for the trigger to the intervention that Prahlada asked forgiveness. Prahlada did not necessarily mind the offenses committed against himself. Rather, he was sorry that Hiranyakashipu had upset Vishnu.