Resolving Karma

By Adebowale, Nigeria

In 2009, I lost almost half my poultry chickens to various uncontrollable diseases. I could not restock because of finances so crossbred local hens with one non-local cock. It went well for six months and I had high hopes.

After six months I noticed that snakes were eating the eggs and during incubation some of the hens will just disappear. I later traced the cause to hawks and a kind of animal called “ayinren” the family of foxes were responsible. I figured out that I should be boasting about three hundred chicks by December 2014. By January 2015, I have only five left—three fowls and two beautiful pullets. By March the two pullets were gone after feeding them in the morning, leaving me with three fowls. I then decided not to invest until I am able to be rid of the other preying animals.

Early June, one afternoon I heard a distress cry of one of the fowls. I ran out to the spot to discover that it was the prized cross breeder that was killed by an animal before I could be there. I wept.

About a week later while brooding over the loss, it dawned on me that my action in my late forties had come home to roost. How?

I followed my uncle to his station Okun Owa to start my education 1945. A local boy of my age came to live with us in the Anglican Mission House which had a large uncultivated backyard bush. Some local hens and guinea fowls made the place home. When hard pressed with hunger, we used to comb the bush for eggs when my uncle travelled home on weekends. We even went as far as killing some of the hens for meat. Nobody could suspect us. It was a secret well-kept between us. We took delight in the act then.

The question came to me that have I forgotten how we used to illegally collect eggs and shamefully killed other people’s animals in those days? The realization came on me and I felt sorry. Sorry that I did those acts ignorant of the law of karma.

I therefore thank the Mahanta for this realization. I also thank the Mahanta for resolving the karma for I was all the while worried why it could only be me with such fate in the community. I now know why.

With the realization, I can now go ahead to invest in my pet projects when I have the finance.