a jeeva has to face the consequences of his actions and burn out the karma

The following view was canvassed by a Hindu friend.

God is our father and mother. So he will not expect us to face difficult rituals and observances an He will not mind even if we deviate from prescribed methods because after all He is our father and mother.

I could not agree with this idea because our ordinary life is governed by the law of karma and God would not agree to actions against normal order and still help us.

The result was an unwanted enmity as usual.

My views

I am not questioning the devotion or sincerity or attachment to God by anyone. But we have to understand our Hinduism.

Except when a soul goes for mukthi in which case there is no difference between the individual jeevaatma and the supreme soul paramatma which is envisaged in upanishads and Vedanta the Hinduism is just built on the theory of karma.

Here a jeeva has to face the consequences of his actions and burn out the karma.

The various rituals and observances are meant to facilitate the person bound by karma to burn out such karma. In this matter god is just an umpire or an accountant.

He cannot give anyone any concession.

If a fellow has committed murder and the father is running the trial as a judge can the judge deviate from justice?

In human court cases even the supreme court has multiple benches.

So the judge who is the father too will transfer the case to someone else.

But God is the single supreme judge.

He cannot transfer the cases.

So he has to deliver justice whoever is the accused..

The parental analogy and mercy and such considerations do not hold fort there.

So in such karmic situations it is not correct to presume that the rules can be broken just because the God is a parent.

This is normal Hindu philosophy.

The sharanaagathi tatwa of vaishnavism vishistaadvaita or dwaita too make the individual a servant of God and not children.

In Hinduism claiming that we are children of God is just symbolism..

And such concept is alien to the religion as such.

. And evn if we agree that God is a father then he is a strict father.

If the karma of the child deems it fit that the assumed child should suffer the God would not grant condonation.

Krishna was as good as a parent to abhimanyu

Still Krishna watched the child murdered in silence.

To feel that God is a parent and therefore he will not mind deviations in scriptural dictates is a fallacious notion.

If a fellow is sick or in some conditions where he could not observe the rules then the scriptures themselves prescribe exceptions.

One need not refer the issue to God then.

It is just fallacious to assume that vedanta or bhakthi and ritualism and other tenets can be mixed up and a hybrid Hinduism can be followed.

Such hybridization can come even out of utter devotion but as a well structured religion with many well defined strata such mixing up is not right.

This is by way of interpretation of a great religion.

Of course any individual can have his own way with God..

But then that is between the individual and the unknown divine..

And if the method deviated from standard tenets of Hinduism..It is devoutness alright but not devout Hinduism of any type.

The difference should be understood.

One can refuse to do pooja but if one is doing pooja it has to be according to standard practices..

many practices are prescribed by the scriptures and traditions.

But it is not given to the individual to create any rules.