Retribution can settle scores but it aggravates karmic debt instead of settling it. Let us explore this today. Someone hurls insults at me and I hurl them back at him. Sounds like I settled a score quite well and yes technically, in the ways of the world, it would be said that I was pretty good at settling the score with him. However, viewed from a spiritual perspective, I only incurred karmic debt. A karmic debt arises when we do negative karma. Negative karma is any karma done under the influence of negative emotions. Some of the negative emotions are lust, ego, anger, attachment, greed, worry, fear, guild, sloth, envy, competition, comparison, disdain, hurt etc. Any thought, word or action done under the influence of these emotions creates negative karma which in turn bring ill health, bad relationships and unfavorable situations to us as a fruit of karmic debt.

So when he hurled insults at me, I came under the influence of ego or anger or hurt and and thought, spoke and acted accordingly, thereby incurring karmic debt. So the one who insulted created a karmic debt by acting and the one who was insulted incurred karmic debt by reacting. The karmic theory does not distinguish between negative karma done as an action and negative karma done in reaction. Any karma done under the influence of negative emotions, whether as an action or as a reaction to somebody else’s negative karma creates karmic debt. So, next time we settle scores, let us not forget that we are creating karmic debt which we will have to settle at a future date. Tomorrow we shall understand what is the way to settle karmic debts.