Why do the good suffer ?

Questioner: When a person dies from some kind of disease, people say it is because of bad karma from his past life. Is that true?

Dadashri: Yes, with bad karma you get disease and if there is no bad karma there is no disease. Have you ever come across a person with a disease?

Questioner: My mother died of cancer about two months ago.

Dadashri: It all happens because of bad karma coming into effect. Cancer occurs when paap karmas come into effect. All these heart attacks occur because of bad karma. People today bind nothing but paap karma. That is their business. All day long, they bind paap karma! They do this because they are not aware of it. If they were, they would not do so.

Questioner: Her entire life was spent doing devout religious worship, so why did she get cancer?

Dadashri: The fruits of her worship are yet to come. She will receive that in her next life. This is the fruit of her past life. By sowing good seeds today, you will receive good fruits in your next life.

Questioner: If disease is because of karma, then why does medicine cure it?

Dadashri: Yes, certain diseases are results of bad karmas created in ignorance, so medicine can cure them. If they were intentionally done then there would not be any kind of medicine that would help cure the disease. In both cases one does not go unpunished. The only difference is that the bad karma created in ignorance will receive some kind of help, whereas those done deliberately, will not.