Acharya Prashant addresses the question of why great figures, who have committed no sins, have had to endure so much suffering. He begins by explaining that the principle of karma operates within the realm of *Prakriti* (nature). This principle states that whatever action or choice you make, its result is immediately attached to you, and you must bear its fruit. This law applies to the ordinary person who lives with a sense of doership (*kartabhav*), acting with the expectation of some future result, be it pleasure or security. The ego (*ahankar*) itself is an element of *Prakriti* and is bound by its laws. However, there is a higher possibility. When the ego attains its completeness or maturity, it becomes free from the other elements of *Prakriti*. This is the state of *Aham Brahmasmi* (I am Brahman). In this state, the individual is no longer a plaything of nature, wandering in search of worldly things. Having risen above *Prakriti*, the ordinary laws of nature, including karma and its fruits, no longer apply to them. Since they are not acting for themselves, they do not bear the consequences for themselves. When such a person appears to suffer, it is not for their own sake but out of compassion (*karuna*) or grace for others. Acharya Prashant clarifies the distinction between the suffering of an ordinary person and that of an enlightened one. An ordinary person suffers because they have performed actions out of a sense of doership, hoping for pleasure. The same entity that desires pleasure becomes the experiencer of pain. For an enlightened being, this doer-entity, the ego that seeks pleasure, has dissolved. Therefore, even if their body undergoes external pain, there is no internal ego to experience it as suffering. The external pain they endure is for the benefit of others. He cites the example of Jesus, who is said to have suffered on the cross for the sins of humanity, not for his own. This suffering is an act of compassion. Before one can suffer for others, one must first be free from their own narrow self-interests, a state most people have not reached as they are preoccupied with their own misery.
