Does Asking for Forgiveness Erase Karma?

Question

I have a question, but it’s from the Gita, not from the Ramayana—can I still ask?
— Yes, yes, of course!
Spiritual truth is the same everywhere—whether it’s in the Ramayana, the Gita, the Mahabharata, or anywhere else.

Alright, my question is a little long. We often talk about karmic accounts, right?
— Yes.

So, our karmic accounts are formed through our thoughts, words, and deeds—when we cause someone happiness or sorrow. Those become our karmic records—manasā, vācā, karmana—three types.

Now, in a population of 1.5 billion, maybe only a few hundred people—our relatives, friends, and acquaintances—are actually connected with us. So, if through our actions or words we hurt anyone, it must be among these people with whom we have a soul connection, because they become our relatives or close ones in this birth.

Now, as we’ve learned, the core qualities of the soul are forgiveness, compassion, joy, and love. So, since we have soul connections with these people—our relatives, friends, and family—wouldn’t their souls forgive us naturally if we did something wrong? And sometimes, we even ask for forgiveness directly—so in that case, shouldn’t that cancel the karmic account?

Answer

No, it doesn’t work that way.
When you throw a ball from your hand, it’s already been thrown—it will definitely hit the wall.

— But what if I’ve asked for forgiveness? I mean, if I’ve realized my mistake and asked for pardon—since the soul’s inherent qualities are forgiveness, compassion, love, and joy—wouldn’t the other soul forgive me by its very nature?

It may forgive you, yes. If someone says, “I forgive you,” that reduces your inner remorse, your feeling of guilt eases. But the deed itself—what you’ve already done—does not get erased. It’s not like if we commit a sin and then do a good deed, the good cancels the bad. No.

Spiritual teaching says: The sin remains separate; the merit remains separate.
You will receive the fruit of your sins and the fruit of your merits—both. The two don’t cancel each other. You must undergo the result of both.

Whether it’s through thought, word, or physical action—nothing can be undone.
The first karma happens in the mind. No one knows what you’re thinking at any given second—what you might think toward another person. The mental act is unseen but still counted. So, whether the karma is mental, verbal, or physical, it cannot simply be undone.

All the scriptures—Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas—agree on one single way to undo past karma:
Not through ritual or mere devotion (here we’re talking from the standpoint of knowledge, not bhakti). The only way is through Self-knowledge (Ātma-jñāna).

Now, what is Self-knowledge?
It’s to truly know yourself as the soul, the conscious energy, and to see the body as your instrument—something you use, not something you are.
At present, what’s happening? We’ve taken ourselves to be the body, and from that body-identity, we’ve become bound by all our roles—mother, father, daughter, teacher, engineer—so many roles.

We don’t just play these roles; we get attached to them. I say, “I am a mother.” But that’s just a role. Yet I don’t see it as a role—I believe I am the mother. And because I identify with it, when my child says something hurtful, I get hurt. That’s what body-consciousness (dehābhimān) means: identifying with the role and becoming attached to it.

Because we live in body-consciousness, we keep getting hurt again and again.
To rise above body-consciousness, we must begin to experience, “I am the soul.”

Right now, where are we in that process?
At this stage, we’re only drawing the first line inside ourselves—repeating and imprinting the thought: I am not the body; I am the soul who uses this body.

The erasure of past karma—the exhaustion, the destruction of its binding power—will happen only when we become firmly established in the awareness of the Self. Not before.

You remember the story we read today—of Ganga’s descent—it also carries the same truth.

— Yes.

If it were really that simple—that I think something negative about someone, or speak harshly, or do something wrong, and then I just say, “Please forgive me,” and the person forgives—and that ends it—then spiritual life would be very easy! But it’s not that simple.

Once something is coded within us, that coding doesn’t erase easily. We have to go very deep within ourselves to dissolve it.