Sri Ramana Maharshi

Karma - Part 2

KARMA

A man commits various good or bad or holy actions in his life and it is quite reasonable and just that he must be rewarded for his good actions and must be punished for bad actions.

Some other religions do not believe in the incarnation of man after death and therefore, the punishments for his sins and rewards for his good actions are awarded to a man upon his death in both these religions.

So to say, though the scriptures in other religions prescribe how a man should lead his life, what are all his do's and don’t do's, as per the religion, a man does not face the results for his good and bad deeds necessarily during his life time.

If suppose devil lives and rules my mind and I have no fear of suffering for my wrong doings in my next birth and I have only this birth to do anything and get away with it, for, after death, I do not live to see how I suffer for my sins, imagine, how human beings would possibly live scot-free, without fear of sin, in this world!!

In the Hindu religion, The theory of Karma is there which is based on the final conclusion that life is not an end in itself but is just one of the little incidents in the eternal existence of each one of us. It is believed that we are born, we die and then we are re-born and this cycle goes on till the time we have suffered and enjoyed for all the sins and virtuous deeds committed by us, till the time, in the final birth, we carry no deeds for which we have to reap the results. We die in that birth, never to be born again. So to say, we have retraced and as clearly understood through various previous posts on Purpose of Human Birth, we have reached the Lord supreme, merged with the lord and exist inseparable, non-dual, from the Lord supreme, whether you call the Lord as God in the path of devotion or Pure Consciousness in the path of wisdom.

How just is this theory of reincarnation!! Suppose we believe that we will never be born again ad we can live our life the way we want, then why would a man enter the spiritual path, choose jnana or bhakti, fear God and sins at all??

Since this theory of Karma is vast and has a very great impact in our life, we shall just  read a brief introduction about the same today and later, step by step, we would get into the subject in the coming days.

The Origin/ trace of theory of Karma in Hinduism.

In vedas, Karma is referred more as action, as rituals.

One of the earliest association of karma to causality occurs in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad of Hinduism.

For example, at 4.4.5-6, it states:

Now as a man is like this or like that,

according as he acts and according as he behaves, so will he be;

a man of good acts will become good, a man of bad acts, bad;

he becomes pure by pure deeds, bad by bad deeds;

Later on, in Mahabhratha, there is mention of Karma in few places.

As a man himself sows, so he himself reaps; no man inherits the good or evil act of another man. The fruit is of the same quality as the action.

— Mahabharata, xii.291.22^[53]

Divine Ones,  

The simple definition of Karma is that "each and every physical action or deed that you perform with the cooperation of the mind, right from morning to evening, during the whole day and night, during the whole week, whole month, whole year and during the whole of your life right from birth to death is called Karma".

All these physical actions performed by all your ten senses, organs and limbs, performed as influenced and propelled by the likes and dislikes, attachments and non-attachments and with the co-operation of your mind and intellect are called 'Karma'.

As we know, for running the administration of any department or institution in this world, certain laws and rules are required to be framed for its smooth and efficient day-to-day working. in the same way, there must be some law, which governs the administration of this whole, vast, infinite universe.

The rising and setting of the sun in the east and the west punctually and strictly according to the time shown in astrology, the harmonious movement of the earth, sun, moon, stars, planets etc. around each other on their pre-destined orbits and destined routes as shown in astronomy.

The inception, maintenance and dissolution of all the animate bodies and inanimate objects and things in the whole universe, the coming of winter, summer and monsoon seasons, the ripening of fruits, flowers, grass and shrubs on the earth, the proper existence of mountains, rivers, oceans etc.

Karma means not only action, but also the result of an action. the consequence of an action is really not a separate thing. it is a part of the action, and cannot be divided from it. Karma is the sum total of our acts both in the present in life and in the preceding births.

Any deed, any thought that causes an effect, is called a  karma. The law of karma means the law of causation. Wherever there is a cause, there an effect must be produced. A seed is a cause for the tree, which is the effect. The tree produces seeds and becomes the cause for the seeds.

Let us see an example:

Suppose I own a land divided into parts. I plant coconut seeds in one piece, in second I plant the mango seedlings and in the third, I plant a vegetable.

In order to germinate, grow and yield fruit, each seed would take its own time. We are quite clear about this.

Similarly,

• Each of our action has got its own time limits for its fruition.
• Every action has got its own reaction.
• Certain actions get their reactions immediately.
• Certain action will get their reactions only after an interval.
• To experience the reactions of our past deeds, everyone needs certain joys or sufferings so as to experience the reaction to our past actions.
• Loka actually means a field of experience.
• Thus, we are born again and again in this loka, the field of experience, to undergo the reactions to our past actions.

So, we have come here into this field of experience (Dharma kshetre, Kuru kshetre…..) to enjoy/suffer for our past deeds.

Every moment in our life throws up a challenge to us- Shall I do this or Shall I do that?.

Two distinct paths are open to us which is often explained by the author in his talks on Karma as  sonagachi or dakshineswar while we land in Kolkata (the good path or the bad path). We find ourselves standing in Kolkata railway station, at a loss, as to decide where to go, out of the 2 choices.

There is always this tussle between the devil and the divine within us. By adopting the path which gives momentary happiness, man cannot get, in the long run, eternal happiness. This we learnt adequately through our previous posts.

Only the one who has adopted the path of Good gains peace of mind.

We will further deal with the theory of Karma, the three kinds of Karmas, with relevant example and at the end, clearly understand the truth behind the tamil declaration- “Vidiyai madiyaal vellalam” (one can gain victory over even one’s fate, with pure mind, pure intellect)!

Love.