Most of the times, it is seen that if one is committing sinful activities, not chanting the names of Lord, breaking all the regulative principles, then they are blessed with material comforts and luxuries as compared to devotees who are seen struggling, suffering and always in discomfort.
The Rasika Acaryas and Vedic Scriptures say that in the spiritual journey, there is an interesting system. If you see people who are doing sinful, immoral and irreligious activities and if you find them happy, then these people have a little good karma to their credit from their previous lives.
This good credit is burned by giving these material comforts and luxuries. Now, these people get more engrossed in sinful activities. Because their good karma of previous lives is acting, they won't even get a cough at that apparently nice time.
At such high time in their life, they begin to think that there is no god, just enjoy, and I am boss types thinking. All this while, their good karma credit is rapidly declining.
The day this good credit becomes nil, from that day onwards, their life is gonna turn completely topsy turvy.
This is mentioned in Vedic Scriptures innumerable times, and if you are even a little bit experienced in life or even if you are slightly observant, you might recall many stories of people who all of a sudden went from top material success to zero!
There was a village leader who was a landlord (true story for precise reference to this article). He had bodyguards, all carrying sophisticated guns and weapons. As with such people, he was in his own image and didn't pay heed to anybody, whoever be it.
There was a poor brahman whose land was forcefully acquired by this landlord. He went to the landlord, wept on landlord's knees, folded his hands and said, "Baba, you are a landlord and I am a poor man. My entire family is dependent on this land. Kindly have compassion." The landlord didn't pay any heed to the request of brahman and asked him to leave.
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The interesting thing is that this landlord descendants today don't have anybody to give them even a drop of water. After that incidence, the landlord's elder son got cancer and died. The second son got mentally retarded all of a sudden. The third son broke off his legs and became disabled for life. And he himself became such a drug addict that he lost his entire riches. Basically, it got to the point that nobody gave him a damn. When he died, there was nobody to throw or dispose of his dead body!
The life is such that if you do more sin, the good karma of your past lives will be given quicker so that once they get nil, then begins your correcting and painful realisation time.
Now when you are doing the spiritual activity, Krishna sees that you are trying to transform. Now so that nobody is able to disturb you in your spiritual life, your bad karma of previous lives are thrown at you. This is meant to wipe up your bad karmas and isolate you so that you give full surrender (sarva dharmam parityajam).
Krishna knows that you are sincere and will easily digest that bad karma owing to the strength that you get from your spiritual life. Also, this bad karma is eroded off by thousands of times so that this whole process just makes your spiritual foundation super stong in much more easy manner than the weight your actual bad karma carries.
You walk by the path of religion, and the day when your bad karma becomes nil, all the devotional credit takes you to a state where nobody can defeat you.
You become fixed in devotion and all path to inner confidential prema-bhakti is revealed internally.
Those who understand the mystery of why sinful people tend to enjoy will actually laugh and rather focus on diving spiritually.
Read How should beginners approach spirituality to dive in the beautiful Vrindavan Prema Rasa slowly and steadily.
Jai Jai Shri Radhe
Hare Krishna
P.S. I write here as heard by Rasika Vaishnavas and Acharyas to meditate on Sri Vrindavan Dham and not for anybody. Analyse-it as per your inner antarswar (calling) and accordingly implement it for yourself.