Instead of putting the prisoners on the jail and beating them hardly, they could be given spiritual punishment, which helps them to change their bad nature in course of time. Spiritual punishment must be given in the form of cleaning the entire temple floors, circumambulating the temples at least for hundred times, fetching water from the temple pond for doing holy bath to the deities, helping the old age pilgrims in the temples by taking their luggage on their hands etc.
By doing these types of good things, surely plenty of chances are there to correct themselves in the near future, and some of their bad karmas would also be wiped out. In Sikh community, the Sikh people those who have committed some small crimes would be punished by making them to take care of the Slippers of the devotees which would be kept at the entrance of the Holy Gurudwaras.
But these types of spiritual punishment are not applicable to all types of prisoners. Those who have done big crimes like murders, rapes and kidnapping must be given big punishment, but, for those who involve themselves in small thefts must be given an opportunity to correct themselves in their future life.
Even the great Valmiki Maharishi, the author of the Holy epic Ramayana, was once lived as a big thief, and after he was corrected by Rishi Narada, he has turned into a big sage, and got the good name, Maharishi Valmiki. Even our great Lord Krishna has stolen the hearts of his devotees, and for that act, we have to give him the spiritual punishment, by the way of asking him to shower his grace even to the most suppressed and the depressed people.
For our great Prahlada also Lord Vishnu has given him a big spiritual punishment, by making him to take birth as a Madhwa Saint, Guru Raghavendra and by putting him under the Samadhi shrine at Mantralayam, in order to do lot of favours to his devotees like us. God has given spiritual punishment even to me by the way of making me to write lot of spiritual articles!
Hence let’s willfully punish ourselves by the way of doing Bhagavan Seva throughout our life.
“OM NAMO BHAGAVATE VASUDEVAYA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR