Is one’s complexion related with past karma? They why do people who are doing sinful activities have good complexions?

My question is once prabhupad said blackbody is a result of sinful activities. We see that arabs and europians and chinese are fair skinned people. Are they are more pious in past life and now are leading a sinful life and indians were sinful last life. How to understand this. Please explain this.

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Sinful activities. We see that Arabs and Europeans and Chinese are fair-skinned people.
Are they people who were pious in their past lives and now are leading sinful lives and Indians were sinful in their past life? How do we understand this? Answer, the statement that the complexion of our body is indicative of our past karma should not be unduly extrapolated beyond its context because in one sense everything that we get is a result of our past karma. So, some people are short some people are tall so now somebody can say that if I am short my shortness is a result of past bad karma and somebody who is very tall and the height gets in the way of everything and that is person trying to say that person I feel that oh my height is a result of my bad karma. So, there are practically everything that we get in this life is a return written by a past karma.
So, it’s not just the complexion it’s everything else. Now, in a somewhat broad context certain complexions are seen as beautiful and certain complexions are seen as not so beautiful. So, a fair complexion is seen as attractive a dark complexion is seen as not so attractive and this may not be an universal and absolute standard but it is a broad way of looking at things which a significant number of people have.
Ultimately when we look at karmic reactions what do we mean by karmic reactions? Somebody may be a very good cricketer but somehow because of politics or something like that that person doesn’t get selected in the Indian national team and he never gets the glory. Some other player who is not so talented because of some chance or because of some political contacts he can apply some territorial pressure zonal equations come into the place and he gets a place in the team and he becomes famous as a national star. So, we can see at one level that the karma determine the talents of those persons but even after people have talents the glorification that comes from that talents the glory that comes from those talents that is also to some extent determined by the past karma.
Of course, one’s endeavors in this life also play a role but the point here that I am making is that the principle of karma is to some extent based on subjective evaluation of parameters. So, Srila Prabhupada says that Janmaiswarishta Sridhir that was in Kunti Maharani’s prayers where Kunti Maharani is saying that a high birth then wealth, learning and beauty these four are a result of past good karma. Interestingly in that context the Prabhupada uses that verse to say that all of you American boys and girls now you have got a birth in a prosperous country and that is the result of past good karma.
Don’t lose this opportunity. Now, we could look at it from another perspective and say that you know anyone who is born outside the Varanasi Dharma is a Mleccha and a Yavana and then to be born in the Mleccha or Yavana family is a sign of bad karma. Srila Vaishnava Prabhupada is saying that it is a sign of good karma.
So, in the present Kali Yuga the socio-economic order of the world is such that America is more prosperous and American birth seems to give people a sort of respectability in the eyes of the rest of the world. At least Americans are respected in India. They may not be loved but people are somewhat infatuated with them.
So, similarly the point I am making is that if within a social paradigm a particular complexion is considered attractive and a particular complexion is not considered attractive then the complexion that is not considered attractive for a soul to get a body with that complexion at that time when that complexion is considered to be unattractive is a result of bad karma. So, who knows the social values may change in future and say birth in America may not be considered to be so great. So, then what would happen at that time? Then if a soul is born in America at that time, at that time the birth in America could be seen as a result of bad karma.
So, Krishna very clearly says gahana karmano vadhi. The moments of karma are very intricate. So, the basic principle is that by past good karma we get the resources by which we can enjoy this world.
So, if a fair complexion is a source of enjoyment then if somebody has got a fair complexion that indicates that a person has done past good karma. Now, if person gets birth in America and birth in America leads to respect then that birth in America is considered a result of past good karma. So, in that sense we have to understand that the results of the karma are often expressed according to socio-cultural norms of the times.
It is not that the law of karma is determined by that. The law of karma is fixed. Certain actions will lead to pleasure, certain actions will lead to displeasure, but rather lead to suffering.
But, what will that suffering be? What will that suffering be? So, that which is considered suffering at one particular time in material world may be considered as not so much suffering in other times. So, for example if we look at the standards of beauty, when we talk about what is a beautiful form, if you look at the history of the world, it is relative. May be 100 years ago, when the female form was fat and fleshy, that was considered to be beautiful.
Later on there was a time when models were as thin as possible and that was considered to be beautiful. And then at that time people tried to starve themselves so that they could look beautiful in the eyes of others. And who knows after some time styles may change.
So, then who is considered, now if you say beauty is a result of past good karma, but what is considered beautiful is determined by the socio-cultural circumstances at that time. So, therefore, then past good karma will lead to what kind of form? It will lead to the kind of form that is considered beautiful at that particular time. So, that’s why these statements indicate broad principles.
But their expressions are not absolute. They have to be seen in terms of time, place, circumstances. So, who knows in future, this is just off the top, just a hypothetical situation, if Africa becomes the most prosperous country in the world, as say America is now, or on the continent, and say Africans start ruling the whole world and or they at least become the unipolar superpower of the world, just hypothetically I am saying.
So, at that time, maybe a black complexion might be considered a result of good karma. The point again is that in the cultural context in which a particular person is born, in that cultural context, whatever is considered beautiful or attractive or pleasurable essentially, if the person has that, that’s a result of good karma. If the person doesn’t have that, that’s a result of bad karma.
So, this is a general principle. So, now, if you look at the sixth canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, it is described that the part of, when earth took up the sinful reactions for certain misdeeds which had been done by the celestial Indra, then that part of the earth became deserts. So, in one sense, deserts are considered to be places that are affected by sin and the people who live in deserts are also affected by sins.
But then we see that in that desert, oil has been found and the people who have lived there have become tremendously prosperous. So, then, if birth is in that Persian area where there is a lot of oil, is that a result of bad karma or good karma? If I call it time, place or culture, it will change. In fact, if now people are able to get the results of, get resources by which they can enjoy, then the very fact that they have resources for enjoyment indicates that they did some good karma in the past.
So, yes, currently Arabs, Europeans, Chinese, their economies are flourishing. Of course, European economy is in the downturn. So, therefore, the fact that they are fair skinned indicates that they have done some good karma.
Now, it’s not that, again we have to understand the karmic record is never entirely black, never entirely white. It is always in shades of grey. So, the complexion indicates only one feature of the karmic record and that feature of the karmic record is positive.
So, now, the question about were Indians sinful in the past life? Now, the dark complexion that is being referred to is not the complexion that Indians traditionally have. The complexion of Indians is more of brownish. Because in India we don’t have any full or directly dark.
So, the brownish people may be considered as dark in India or black and those who are somewhat more bright complexion, they may be considered fair. So, actually if you see the complexion of people in Europe and America, that’s fair. The complexion in Africa is dark.
And Indian complexion is somewhere in between. So, is birth in India, this is not a dark complexion and in that sense, it’s not indicative of sinful life. Srimad Bhagavatam says that, in the discanter of Srimad Bhagavatam, the demigods are praying that birth in Bharat Varsha is so auspicious.
Bharat Varsha can at a broad level mean the whole world, but in a more generic, in a more specific sense, it refers to India. So, what they are saying is birth in India is so fortunate. And they are grateful for that fortune.
They are saying that we, the demigods don’t have this fortune, but the people on earth have this fortune. So, this indicates that actually birth in India is a result of good fortune. And it’s a result of past good karma, either past good karma or some past practice of bhakti.
But again, if somebody is born in India in poverty, so the birth in India is indicative of some good karma, but the birth in poverty is indicative of some bad karma. Therefore, we can’t isolate one feature of a person and generalize from that statement about the full karmic record of that person. So, a person may be born with a black complexion.
That would indicate that one aspect of the karma of that person is negative. But then what if he is a genius, an intellectual? Or what if he is a millionaire, a billionaire? So, that intellectual expertise or that financial strength, that would be a result of good karma. Therefore, we cannot absolutize this sort of statement because that sort of absolutization would make Srila Prabhupada appear racist.
And Srila Prabhupada is not at all racist. You can search Srila Prabhupada’s statement and at the end of the day, what Srila Prabhupada says is, whether a person is white or black or anywhere in between, ultimately everybody in this world has to die. Everybody has to suffer.
So, everybody ultimately gets caught up in the bodily consciousness and everybody has to fight their bodily consciousness. So, therefore, the most important point is that whatever situation we are in, we can transcend that by the power of devotional service. And that’s what Krishna says to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita.
He says that the process of bhakti is so strong in 9.32 and 9.33. He says, This is where, by the shelter of me, even those who are low-born will become elevated. What then to speak of those who are high-born, the Brahmins and the royal sages, the Rajarishi, saintly kings, they will all become elevated. So, if the high-born can be elevated, then by the power of devotional service, even the low-born can be elevated.
So, the ultimate point is that, by bhakti, we can transcend all material influences, including the influences of past bad karma. And that is the ultimate focus, essence of Srila Prabhupada’s message, that whether we are black or white or in between, we are in the bodily consciousness, we will suffer. If we come to devotional consciousness, we will be happy.
Thank you.