KARMA
“Karmaani kati vidhaani
santi?” iti chet,
Aagaami, sanchita,
praarabdha;
bhedena trividhaani
santi.
Jnaana utpatti
anantaram;
jnaani deha kritam;
punya-paapa roopam karma;
yad asti tad aagaami iti
abhi-dheeyate.
Sanchitam karma kim?
Ananta-koti-janmanaam,
beeja-bhootam sat,
yat karma-jaatam,
poorva-arjitam tishthati
tat sanchitam jneyam.
“Prarabdham karma kim?”
Iti chet.
Idam shareera utpaadya,
iha loke eva, sukha-duhkha-aadi
pradam,
yat karma tat
praarabdham;
bhogena nashtam bhavati
praarabdha karmanaam ; bhogaat eva kshayah iti.
“How many kinds of
Karmas are there?” – if thus asked, (the answer given is):
these are the three
different kinds.
Agami, Sanchita and
Prarabdha Karmas
After the dawn of
knowledge and performed by the body of a realized soul, such Karmas, whether
good or bad, of whatever kind they may be, are known as Agami Karmas.
What are Sanchita
Karmas?
Having arisen in endless
crores of births, and remaining in seed form,
those results of actions
gained from the past, which still remains –
that should be known as
Sanchita Karma.
“What is Prarabdha
Karma?”
If asked this, here is
the reply:
Having given birth to
this body, then,
in this very world,
resulting in happiness
or sorrow, and so on,
those results of actions
are called Prarabdha.
Destroyable only by
being enjoyed, are such Prarabdha Karmas. Enjoyment alone exhausts them.
In
the above section, three types of Karmas are detailed. They are Sanchita, Agami
and Prarabdha. Only their general definitions have been given.
All these have been elaborately covered in the blog posts under the theme
“Karma”.
We
will again refresh ourselves with the relevant portions from Karma theme posts
related to these 3 karma.
All
the three karmas are dealt with the example of quiver and arrow.
Arrows in the Quiver (Sanchita karma)
Accumulated
impressions:
Imagine, similar to the example given by Swami where He says, you bring along
with you, a kanta mala, which is the effect of all your past, we bring along
with us, when we are born, a sanchi or a bag in which we are carrying few karma
arrows.
The
karmas in the quiver are the accumulated deep impressions (Samskaras) that have
been collected over our entire history. Some arrows have been added to the
quiver (new Karmas) and others have already been shot (old Karmas), and are no
longer in the quiver.
Red and White arrows: There is a combination of
red or tainted arrows and white or pure arrows. The red ones, let us take as
the arrows pertaining to the wrong deeds of past as Red arrows and the arrows
pertaining to our pure/ noble action as White or pure arrows.
The
formula of karma:
The total of the arrows (Samskaras) in our quiver today is the net of the new
arrows added, minus the old ones that have been shot. These arrows and
deep driving habits in the quiver are called "Sanchita Karma."
It takes time: Because of the process of
playing out old Samskaras while new, more useful ones are added, it takes time
for one's balance of karma to improve. In other words, it doesn't happen
overnight (recognizing that God, grace, or Guru might help).
Taking
example from Ramayan, Dasaratha (father of Rama) in his young age killed one
innocent Brahmin boy named Sravana and hence his old blind parents cursed
Dasaratha that he shall also have to die due to the separation of his son.
At
the time of this curse, Dasaratha was not married and hence that curse could
not be effective immediately.
His action (Karma) was therefore kept in abeyance pending as
Sanchita Karma waiting for the opportune time to come. Subsequently, in due
course of time, when Dasaratha got married, also got Rama as his son and then
precisely just on the auspicious coronation day of Rama, the unholy sinful past
action of King Dasaratha immediately cropped up and he had to die because of
the curse compelling the separation of his son Rama. And curiously enough, even
Sri Rama (the omnipotent God incarnate), in due respect to the immutable law of
Karma, chose not to interfere by showing any favoritism to His own father in
giving him extension for at least 14 years till He would return from the forest.
Taking
one more example from the epic Mahabharata, King Dhritarashtra, when he lost
all his 100 sons in the battle field,
inquired of Lord Krishna as to why he met
with such a disastrous loss even though he did not remember to have committed
any such horrible sin during his present lifetime. Lord Krishna, out of respect
and sympathy for him gracefully bestowed upon him divine vision so that he
could visualize for himself the heinous act perpetrated by him in any of his
previous births which was responsible for his current misery.
Thus
aided, Dhritarashtra discovered that fifty births back when he was a hunter of
birds he once threw his burning net on a tree causing hundred small baby birds
to be entrapped and burnt to ashes, while the remaining big birds flew away but
they became blind due to the scorching heat of the burning net.
The
effect of this horrible sinful deed was that Sri Dhritarashtra became and
remained blind all throughout his present life and also lost his 100 sons. Sri
Dhritarashtra wondered and further inquired from Lord Krishna as to why that
wanton and sinful act did not immediately rebound on him to punish him in the
same birth or even during his immediately next birth, and why it remained
dormant as Sanchita Karma for such a long period of fifty lifetimes.
Lord
Krishna smiled and replied that his past sinful deed had to wait for an
opportune time up to 50 births during which time he could earn and accumulate
enough pious deeds to merit him to be eligible to get a hundred sons in one lifetime
so that his previous sinful Sanchita Karma could instantaneously confront him
with the effects of his evil action.
Love.
