THE KARMA THEORY IN SANAATANA DHARMA

THE  KARMA  THEORY  IN 

SANAATANA   DHARMA

The clear grasp of Karma-Theory in Sanatana Dharma very much helps one to pursue the path of Bhakti.  Firstly, let us study the topic of Fate and Free-Will in this regard.  Before we go deep into the subject, let us introspect whether there is an "Individual" really.  If there is an individual then only there will be an individual freewill also.  Individual's existence is a fact only during a wakeful state and a dream state.  During dream state, the free will ceases to be under the control of the individual.  As such, during wakeful state alone, there would be an individual freewill, if at all there is truly an individual free will for all practical purposes.  During this period the individual always identifies himself or herself with his or her ego.  If the identification with the ego ceases to exist, still one would surely exist and that existence would be as the eternal Atman which we experience during deep sleep.  Atman alone exists at all times whether it is wakefulness, dreaming or enjoying the deep sleep or remaining in a state transcending these three.  One would be convinced with this statement if one reflects on this matter on returning to the wakeful state immediately after a deep sleep.

The Self or Atman alone exists always.  Similarly Cosmic Will also exists eternally without a break.  During the manifested state of the universe, Cosmic Will remains vibrant and during the unmanifested state it remains dormant; that is the only difference.  As such, we have to conclude that the short-lived Individual Freewill should be an illusion and the Eternal Cosmic Will alone should be the lasting Truth and as such, it should be Supreme.

Hence, let us go into the details of the subject.  What is Fate actually?  It is nothing but the result or effect of the Individual's past Freewill brought forward to the currently running page i.e. this life time, after closing the last page, by writing as carried forward, at the end of the previous life time.  This is exactly like maintaining the account books in Accountancy.  In the previous life, what we aspired to become and endeavoured to become, applying our Freewill, that has come to fruition now.  In the process we would have engaged ourselves in many meritorious deeds and also sinful deeds knowingly and inadvertently.  Therefore, we are experiencing the corresponding effects of happiness and bitterness when destiny unfolds now.  During this life if we would be dis-satisfied with the workings of the destiny, we cannot blame anybody else for that matter except ourselves. We should understand that Fate and Freewill are not two different entities altogether. Fate prompts the Freewill to act in a particular manner and this act of Freewill becomes Fate or destiny thereafter for future birth.  One is the cause for the other.  If this process should come to a full stop, we should accept our destiny or Fate without any bitterness or ill-feeling towards anybody and allow it to unfold in the natural course of evolution and by so doing we should allow it to get exhausted finally.  The distinguished Saivaite Saint, Manickavaachakar, in his effortless out-pouring of a Bhakti literature which instantly was written down in bits of palm leaves by the dancing Lord of Chidambaram, Nataraja Himself, who, later hailed it by giving it the title of  Tiruvaachakam, "The Divine Utterances" states in it, as follows:- (Main Heading 5 திருச்சதகம், Sub-Heading 7 காருண்ணியத்திரங்கல், verse No.6)

இழித்தனன்     என்னை    யானே    எம்பிரான்   போற்றி   போற்றி

பழித்திலேன்   உன்னை   என்னை   ஆளுடைப்பாதம்    போற்றி  |

பிழைத்தவை  பொறுக்கையெல்லாம்  பெரியவர்-கடமை  போற்றி

ஒழித்திடிவ்வாழ்வு          போற்றி        உம்பர்நாட்டெம்பிரானே  ||

"I alone am the cause for the miserable plight that I am involved in now; I don't blame you, O, my Lord, even in a dream, for my present predicament.  Therefore, I hereby undertake a firm resolution to amend myself.  You are verily magnanimity and compassion personified and as such, you can forgive me for all my wrong doings in the past.  Kindly put a full stop to this seemingly endless journey of transmigration, that I am involved in, O God of gods."  This is the gist of this verse.  Taking a birth brings in with it a chain of bitter, unavoidable and undesirable happenings such as immobility and total lack of freedom during infanthood, diseases, accidents and misfortunes throughout the life time, infirmities and decay of the body during old age and after all these the terrifying experience of death in the end.  

By conforming our life to the spirit of this statement mentioned in Tiruvaachakam, we would be able to exhaust our undesirable Karma effectively and could entertain any hope of changing it to our liking for the future.  One should not mistake Fate or destiny as Cosmic Will.  Destiny is another form of individual freewill and this comes under the firm control of Cosmic Will.  As such, the question of "Which is Supreme?  Fate or Freewill" becomes totally irrelevant. 

As destiny is under the firm control of Cosmic Will, the unfolding sequence of events is regulated by Cosmic Will alone.  This is regulated in such a manner and with such a purpose, that the individual's spiritual evolution takes place without any hindrance, smoothly. 

Till now we discussed about Fate and Freewill.  In the process, we realised that these two issues are not absolutely different from each other as  one becomes the cause for the other.  It is like the tree and its seed; one becoming the cause for the other, like an object ever remaining in a vicious circle of a whirl pool.  Now a question would arise whether we could alter the destiny completely or at least bring some sort of a change in the course of the destiny to feel some temporary relief.  Before finding an answer to this question we should have a thorough knowledge of KARMA.  Sanatana Dharma alone explains the theory of Karma comprehensively in all its aspects through sound logic.  After grasping Karma-Theory in its entirety it would become easy to understand the topic of alteration of destiny.  Therefore, the study of Karma-Theory is taken up now, for enlightenment.

The Karma-Theory cannot be grasped easily by the intellect as it is beyond the domain of reason.  Only the intuitive mind would be able to grasp it or it should be grasped from the Shaastras.  Basically Karma has three facets.  1. Sanchita, 2. Praarabdha, 3. Aagaami.  The first facet, Sanchita Karma is like the big granary.  Karma acquired through innumerable births, yet to be exhausted, is collected and stored there in the subtle form of seeds.  From that collection a small portion is taken out, to act as a capital, to commence a new birth in the empirical plane like the farmer utilising a small portion of the accumulated seeds in the granary for sowing, during a new agricultural season.  This particular portion of Karma is called Praarabdha Karma.  The Praarabdha Karma alone becomes vibrant and remains perceptible to the intellect in a manifested state.  Sanchita Karma ever remains dormant and exists in the unmanifested state.  As such, it remains beyond the reach of human comprehension.   At the end of the earthly sojourn of a soul, the Praarabdha Karma would have generated new seeds of Karma by leading a selfish life of likes (राग) and dislikes (द्वेष) thereby, earning merits and demerits in the process.  This is like the farmer collecting the yield at the end of the harvest season.  This newly generated seeds of Karma is added to the already existing collection of Sanchita in the granary and this new collection becomes the Aagaami Karma or the collection to be utilised for sowing in the future which in its course would become the cause for many future births.

Praarabdha Karma is well programmed and as such it is fixed in nature.  The sequence of events are also pre-determined.  In the normal course of destiny no alteration could be made in this scheme. 

During the present age of science and technology mankind have mastered the genetic science.  We can alter the genetic structure of a seed; for the seed to behave in different ways in the ensuing seasons of agriculture.  We can alter the genetic structure of any seed by removing the sprouting capability from the seed instantly or after allowing the seed to germinate once.  The seed-producing big companies in America are selling seeds to farmers which would sprout only once.  The yield collected at the end of the harvest cannot be used for sowing, during the next agricultural seasons.  This is done to keep a firm grip on the farmer community so that they would remain eternally dependent on these companies without any other choice.  This is total ADHARMA.  Such seeds can be utilised only as food for consumption.  But it is not yet known through extensive studies in the field of research, what would be the lasting effect of such food-consumption in humanity; good or bad, like the B T varieties of vegetables and fruits.  The B T varieties are not prone to the attack of pests; that is the advantage; they say.  But if we use our commonsense objectively we can realise that the pests find this B T varieties toxic for their consumption.  That is why the B T varieties are not attacked by pests.  Otherwise they wouldn't leave anything untouched.  How can the vegetables or fruits remaining toxic for the pests become consumable for human beings?  Is the immunity-level in human beings unimaginably higher than that same immunity level in pests?  This is very simple and straight forward logic which can be grasped even by laymen.  

Similarly if we could make the Praarabdha Karma as barren, by leading a selfless life (without राग - likes and द्वेष - dislikes) in which case it would not add anything to the collection of Aagaami Karma at the end of a person's life in the empirical plane. The already existing Sanchita would get burnt out automatically when the individual who generated the Sanchita-Karma ceases to exist after the dawn of the spiritual knowledge in the individual.  (Shakti-Nipaata, an essential prerequisite for the dawn of spiritual knowledge in the intellect burns down all the Sanchita-Karma completely leaving no trace of Anaatman which is the total collection of non-self.)

अनेकजन्म - संप्राप्त - कर्मकोटि - विदाहिने  |

ज्ञानानल - प्रभावेण   तस्मै  श्रीगुरवे  नमः  ||

                                                                   Guru-Geeta in Skaanda-Puraana.

" I do prostrations in front of the Sadguru who infuses Shakti-Nipaata,  the Gyaanaagni mentioned in Bhagavad-Geeta,  into the eligible and receptive disciple, as a result of which the accumulated Sanchita-Karma collected through innumerable births get completely burnt.   

From the very moment an individual realises his True Self he ceases to identify himself with the individual who generated the Karma earlier, before the transformation took place in him. Self-realisation makes the Sanchita Karma a non-entity as there is no one to claim it as "mine". 

Now the only question that remains is whether destiny could be changed.  In the normal course, destiny is predestined by Cosmic Will and as such it doesn't fall within the ambit of any individual's Freewill to bring about a change in it. But for every rule or convention there has to be an exception also somewhere.  God Almighty never remains as stone-hearted and unresponsive to devotees' sincere prayers.  His Sankalpa, which is called The Cosmic Will, also becomes amenable if an individual happens to earn some extra-ordinary merit worthy of God's attention, consideration and compassion.  As such, no one should conclude with certainty that destiny is totally fatalistic and therefore, irrevocable. 

There is a logic in Purva-Meemaamsa, यथा लोके तथा वेदे, which means that the logic applicable in empirical plane would remain valid when we interpret the statements in the Vedas or in this case in God's realm.  In the normal course, a culprit undergoing life imprisonment should serve in jail for fourteen years in India these days.  But by considering his change of heart and civilised manners and behaviour, as time evolves, the jail authorities are empowered to reduce the duration of his originally fixed imprisonment period.  In this context they would be giving him grace marks each year and keeping it as the yard-stick, his incarceration period would get reduced finally.  When mankind claims to be so graceful and considerate how can the compassion personified God remain without reciprocating this gesture in His workings?  Bhagavad-Geeta says ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्याहम् | B.G. 4/11.  "I reciprocate the attitude of a devotee to the fullest extent.  The purity and sincerity in a devotee’s  approach is the criterion for my reciprocal attitude towards him or her."  As such, Cosmic Will is fully liberal magnanimous and open-ended in amending or altering the destiny of individuals considering the merit in each case separately.   

Manu, the most ancient patriarch mentioned in the Puranas, after codifying the Varna-Dharmas and Ashrama-Dharmas separately, codifies the rules to be observed in a state of contingency.  These are stated as (आपद्धर्माः) the conducts and conventions to be observed during a calamity or distress. In an extreme abnormal situation, when a Brahmana finds it extremely difficult to earn money and support his family by pursuing the Karma exclusively allotted to him, he is allowed to pursue the Dharma of a Vaishya which happens to be engaging himself in agriculture, rearing of cows, trade and business.  But he should revert back to his primary occupation when the calamity is over. Otherwise he would be subjected to spiritual degradation in social reckoning during his remaining life time and demotion in the final analysis at the time of death.  Such a degraded Brahmana is called a Brahma-Bandhu i.e. the scum of Brahman society.  Even during such a contingency, a Brahmana is not allowed to pursue a Kshatriya's Karma, as killing or wounding in physical combats is totally inevitable in a Kshatriya's Karma.  Similar exceptions are applicable everywhere, and it cannot be different in our current topic of "Change of Destiny" as well. 

Merits (पुण्यम्) earned by doing selfless service in an enlightened reformer's mission is capable of altering the normal course of destiny.  Such reformers come to this world as Avatar, the rarely manifested form of Paramatman. The merits earned by doing selfless service in their mission would gain precedence over other incidents pending to unfold in an individual's life.  Similarly serving the enlightened Sadguru directly or indirectly would earn the same result.  As these great souls do not carry forward anything to earn a future birth, all the merits and demerits earned by individuals through their agency should get fructified during their earthly sojourn itself or in the immediate future thereafter.  These Karma gain precedence over all other Karma waiting to get fructified.  In the mean time if an individual could get self-realisation through their blessings, all those pending Karma waiting to become manifested could be made ineffective as the individual who generated those Karma becomes a non-entity at the stroke of self-realisation.  Merits earned by doing exceptionally noble Karma, even expecting a reward, also could change the normal course of destiny.

To throw more light in this topic we should go through a story which would clear all doubts in this matter.  After all, this is not a fiction.  There was a woman who couldn't beget a progeny even after more than fifteen years of her married life.  In spite of doing various acts of atonement she could not beget a child.  With this background, one morning she was standing in front of her house when a mendicant Sanyasin was passing that spot.  She called him and prayed him to suggest a remedial measure to beget at least one child.  Through his intuitive power he  inquired into her destiny and said that her past Karma was such that she was not destined to beget even one child in spite of all acts of atonement during this birth and also during the ensuing seven births.  She was extremely disappointed to hear this most unwelcome statement.  Morning time was over.  Thereafter mid-day and after-noon arrived.  At that time another mendicant Sanyasin happened to arrive there in a hunger-stricken state.  Expecting some words of consolation from him she put the same question to him also.  As he was so hungry, without thinking anything else, he spontaneously told her that she would beget as many children as to the number of Rotis she would serve him.  In a short time she started serving him with hot Rotis, one after the other.  He went on eating eight Rotis and said it was enough for him.  Thereafter, he washed his hands and vouched her that she would beget eight children, before leaving that place.  From the next year she started begetting children one after the other at the interval of every year.  She begot eight children confirming the blessing of the Sanyasin whom she fed with Rotis.  After a long gap of more than eight years, that former Sanyasin who said she was not likely to beget any child, happened to pass through that place again when the woman narrated to him the change of destiny in her life.  He immediately recollected his past statement and became completely shocked.  He inquired God the reason for the failure of his statement.  God told him that his statement remained valid till the woman earned that extraordinary grace by feeding the latter Sanyasin.  He was compelled to alter her destiny due to this extremely charitable act.  It was His duty to satisfy the hunger of the latter Sanyasin and as such, He, the God Almighty, was very much compelled to testify the latter Sanyasin's statement, even though it was uttered by him inadvertently without taking into consideration her discouraging past.

As such, we should conclude that by purifying ourselves through sincere prayers to God Almighty, by engaging ourselves in rituals and acts of charity (इष्टा-पूर्तम्), involving in oblations to gods in heaven and in gifts (दानम् ) to all beings in our civil society and by engaging ourselves in philanthropic activities such as building hospitals giving free medical treatment, founding schools, imparting free education, digging ponds and wells to promote agriculture and drinking water facilities, running poor-feeding centres and cow-protection centres, sustaining the Vedic Brahman community who are engaged in performing rituals and austerities for the welfare of the world, undergoing pilgrimage, serving the enlightened souls, different forms of mortification and penance, like fasting on Ekaadashi days could earn us a change in our normal course of destiny through the pleasure and grace of God Almighty.  Destiny cannot be changed by any other means.