Five years ago I became aware of problems with the family farm. There was a heavy burden of debt on the land and changing market conditions had drastically reduced income. Periodically I prayed to Datta to save the farm. I covered the balance sheet with vibhuti and placed it under a picture of Datta’s feet. Every time problems come up they have been resolved. This year I have been walking around and offering Tarpanam to the ancestors when I visit. In October as I was walking around and offering Tarpanam, I enjoyed seeing two glorious fields of big orange pumpkins.

Datta teaches us that we can use a lemon to absorb our karma. A coconut absorbs more karma than a lemon, and a pumpkin absorbs even more than a coconut. For the past three years a farmer has been leasing the fields to grow pumpkins to sell for Halloween. Each year thousands of pumpkins have grown there, and only about half get harvested. The other half sit on the land and eventually get ploughed under. It suddenly hit me that the pumpkins are helping to get rid of the farm’s bad karmic debt. It is truly amazing to me how Datta resolves problems!