Reports about the pilferage of donations to Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, about money being stashed away by the very people who were appointed for counting the contributions of devotees, have made the faithful wonder: If this could happen in Lord Ram’s own house, is God powerless? Why did He not prevent it?

This question needs a thoughtful answer, not slogans from either side of the belief-unbelief divide. The answer that we get in our scriptures is much older than any temple ever constructed.

Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita (13.23) says about the Supreme:

upadrashtanumanta cha bharta bhokta maheshvarah,

paramatmeti chapyukto dehe’smin purushah parah.

The Supreme Lord who resides in this body is the observer and the permitter, the sustainer, the experiencer, the Great Lord and He is also known as the Supreme Self. He is aware of each thought and each action. He does not stop the hand of the person from doing any wrongful act. Had it been the case then the concepts of karma and dharma would have lost their meanings altogether. There could have been no virtue in honesty, if there were no possibility of dishonesty.

God who stops every sin is one who rules over a world of puppets. The God who sees everything and allows the act to ripen in its time is the God who rules over a world of men endowed with morality. The choice was made by our tradition........

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