Laws of Karma

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Vyragyam – Detachment

Tattva Bodha defines Vyragyam as desirelessness for  the pleasures of this world and the other upper worlds.
Put it in another way, it is discriminating the REAL from the UNREAL and renouncing the Unreal and adopting the Real .
In KATHOPANISHAD’S language, it is rejecting the “PREYAS” and electing the “SREYAS“
Bharthruhari, a great SAGE , compiled 100 mind boggling Sanskrit slokas , entitled “VYRAGYA SATHAKAM“. which makes any one, to take up  SANYASA instantly.
In Chandogya Upanishad, Narada Maharshi approaches his guru, Sanath kumara and asks for higher knowledge. The guru asks him to enumerate  all he has already learnt so he can instruct him on the rest. Narada, enlists his knowledge which includes astrology, astronomy, literature, music, art, dance,   grammar, logic, all the material sciences, vedas,  animal and snake knowledge etc. To this Sanath Kumara replied that what he learnt was mere NAMES  and missed the entire essence  and hence taught him the atma vidya.
Sankara Charya, in a simple treatise called “BHAJA GOVINDAM” brought out the same message .
Sasthras use a familiar theme called “PRATHI PAKSHA BHAVANA”  (REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY) to explain away the spiritual facts.
This process involves, first presenting the world view of happiness  , the traditional reality (VYAVAHARIKA SATHYAM) .Then analyzing and concluding the reverse to be the actual truth, the Absolute Reality (PARAMRTHIKA SATHYAM) and redirecting  the individual towards the real truth.
It is important to note that Sasthras do not condemn attachment, (especially in the early stages of life) , towards the possessions and people.
What sasthras condemn is the addiction(THIRST) towards these material pursuits.
 Ultimately ,of course one need absolute detachment to attain freedom.
It is like , to close the bank account, you need to pay off the debts or with draw the balance as applicable.
Similarly, to achieve total freedom, you need to clear both the papam and punyam balance and get a clearance certificate.
As long as you recognize your possessions and people are different from you( MAMA KARA) and they can leave you with out notice in accordance to their PRARABDHA KARMA , it is acceptable to love them. This is allowed attachment.
But when you convert your people and your possessions  as part of  your self (AHAM KARA) and cannot accept them to be separate from you and cannot tolerate  their loss, this is called excessive attachment or addiction .
This addiction  is what the Sasthras vehemently warn us to avoid.
This was the problem with Arjuna also , when he treated his grand father , Bhishma , as part of himself and could not separate him  as another individual. So he did not want to fight  with him.
In the very first stanza of BHAJA GOVINDHAM , Sankara denounces the acquisition of material sciences (APARA VIDHYA)  all our lives.
Although they are important and needed in the initial period of life, we need to understand that they do not give us freedom .
Ultimately you need to acquire PARA VIDHYA which alone makes you free from samsara..
Next , Sankara takes up the issue of acquiring money. Money is very important and sasthras recognizes this fact and allows it as long as it is earned ethically, live modestly and share it with the needy. It is the excessive thirst for accumulating money that is condemned by sasthras.
Sankara boldly proclaims that too much money is an obstacle for peace of mind.and declares that It does not give  even a trace of happiness .
Sankara asks us to remember this truth constantly.
He says that we need to fear even our own son when we are too rich.
When you are able to earn money, your dependents adore you. When your money dries up, they  do not even say hello to you.
When you are alive, your relatives inquire your welfare. When the PRANA leaves the body, even the darling wife  is afraid of touching your dead body.
This is the way of the world.
It is but natural to have attraction towards opposite sex and the attractive body parts. This excessive attraction towards the beauty is a delusion because on analysis we came to realize that they are mere ugly masses  of flesh, fat and blood only.
Life is unstable like a water drop on a lotus leaf. As long as it stays on the leaf, it is unsteady and dancing all the time. But when it finally falls on the water under neath, it merges with water and retains stability.
In the same way, as long as we are in samsara, the life is very turbolant . The permanent peace is achieved only when one merges with BRAHMAN.
Who is your wife and who is your son, Sankarra wants us to inquire. When analyzed, your wife is the daughter of someone else and joined you only at some time in your life.    She brought with her, her own PRARABHDHA and needed to exhaust it .You  should treat both as travellers and should recognize that you need to depart when you  reach your destinations  as dictated by the KARMA.
The son also came through you, but he  is a separate individual with his own prarabdha to experience and exhaust.
Realize that all the losable things, including your money, your youth, your relatives etc. will be gone at any time with out notice. They are all impermanent . BRAHMAN alone is permanent and hence try to attain Him.
Few other comments.
 
Monkey story.  There was a monkey which was eating the peanuts of a farmer. He tried to chase it away but the monkey kept on coming and eating the peanuts.The farmer designed a plan to teach the monkey. He fixed a pot on the ground and filled the pot with peanuts.The pot has a narrow neck which enables the monkey to put his open hands in and out. but not the closed fist. The monkey grabbed the fist full of peanuts and tried to eat but could not do so because of the narrow neck.The farmer came and started beating the monkey.The monkey would not let the grip go and hence received the banging.If only he lets the grip go, he will be free.
In the same way as long as you hold on to the people and possessions, freedom is not possible. You need to learn to let go.
 
Napoleon the great, who conquered the whole world, instructed his people, to parade his coffin along the streets of the city with his empty hands up in the air , proving  to every one that he is leaving this world empty handed.and none of his achievements travelling  with him.
When one dies, all the wealth acquired is left behind at home.
The friends and relatives are left behind at the cremation ground.
Only the punyam and papam acquired in one’s life  accompanies him .
Bharthruhari, in his “VYRAGYS SATHAKAM ” describes three possible destinations to the money you earned.
1.BHOGAM—(Enjoyment)— Enjoy the wealth you acquired for your personal comforts. Feel free to enjoy all the pleasures to the fullest.
2.DHANAM—-(Charity)-After fulfilling your comforts , donate freely to the needy and less fortunate.
(Do not leave too much money to the  children. As Warren Buffett said, leave just enough so they still have incentive to work ,not too much so they stay idle and waste the money and also their  life.)
3.NASAM—(Loss) Total waste of your hard earned money.
Sage BHARTHRUHARI , sympathizes with those unfortunate souls who neither enjoyed their wealth nor donated and helped the needy.
Their  money goes to the third destination — which is total waste of all his efforts in accumulating all the wealth all through his life.
DEVARAJULU NAIDU KATTA.


Dharma

Dharma is a unique Vedic statement with immense hidden meaning.  The word Dharm is derived from the root Dhru – which means that supports, protects, sustains, holds,  – “Dhrayathe yat dharmaha”.

Dharma is that principal which protects sustains the cosmic law and order.  There is no single equivalent English word, which justifies the full and complete meaning of Dharma.  So a combination or a set of words are used to explain it.  Righteousness, Morality, Religion, Sathyam, Charity, Character, Law abiding, Duty bound, Luck, Punyam, Swabhavam (abiding in real nature) etc.

Dharma has to be understood according to the context in which it is used

  1. Dharma is the first of four Purusharthas (human goals):  Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.  The Artha (security) and Kama (Entertainment) are the goals for experiencing in this life.  Dharma in this context is called Punyam and it is a goal for the next life.  According to Law of Karma, every action invariably produces a result (Phalam) – either favorable or unfavorable.  The Karma Phalam thus generated can be experienced partly or wholly in this life or carried forward to the next life.  The Phalam that is experienced in this life is called Drista Phalam (visible result).  If it is favorable result, then it is skukam and if it is unfavorable, then it is Dhukkam.  The Phalam that is generated but not experienced in this life is transferred to the next life.  This is called Adhrista Phalam (Invisible result).  The results of noble activities of this life are accumulated to be experienced in the next life are registered as Punyam.  Similarly the results of evil activities of this life are carried to the next life as Papam.  This concept is very important for Hindus who believe in Punarjanma.

“Arthae Gruhe nivartante Smasane mitra bhadhavaah

 

Sukrutham Dhuskrutham chiva Gaccantham anu gacchathi”

“At the time of death, all wealth is left at home.

Only thing that the departed carries with him is the Punyam and Papam one accumulates in this life”

So the accumulation of punyam in this life is the goal of dharma purushartha.

2.  Dharma maintains and protects universal harmony.  Whenever Dharma declines and Adharma escalates, the cosmic harmony suffers.  Unless the Universal harmony is re-established,

serious consequences ensue.

The process of establishing dharma is two fold:

  1. Parithranaya Sadhunam (Sista Rakshana) – By promoting dharmic population by spreading values through teaching.
  2. Vinasaya Dhuskrutham (Dusta Sikshana) – Converting the adharmic people to dharmic people through teaching if that fails to elimiante them.

By the above two methods dharma is re-estbalished.  Lord Krishna accomplished these goals by giving out Gita and also by eliminating the wicked.

 



Is Life Predetermined?

Many events of our life are out of our control and most of our life appears to be predetermined.  It appears that we may be able to influence only a small portion of our life.  Our birth is destined. Our death is destined.   And most of our life appears destined.  Then, is it correct to say that our life is destined and we can do nothing to change our destiny?

I had the privilege of meeting the Swami Paramarthananda in August 2016 and at that time I presented this question to him.

Before I present the answer from the Swamiji, some discussions regarding the laws of karma.  Karmas can be classified, based on their occurrence,  into three types:

  1. Sanjitha Karma: Sanjitha karma is the sum total of all karma accumulated from our previous jenmas (lives).  Sanjitha karmas will mature over many jenmas (births/lives).
  2. Agami Karma: Agami Karmas are generated by our actions in this life.  Some agami karma will mature in this life and some will become sanjitha karma for maturity in later lives.
  3. Prarabtha Karma:   Prarabtha karma is the karma maturing or fructifying in this life.  Maturing karma could be either from this life or from previous lives.

Some of the laws of karma:

  1. Some of the prarabtha karma are from this life and others are from previous lives.  Maturity or fructifications of Karmas is not linear.  This is similar to seeds of plants – some seeds sprout quickly while others take longer.
  2. Karma includes both punyam (positive karmas) and pavam (negative karmas).  Punyams are the result of our dharmic actions and pavams are the result of our adharmic actions.
  3. While I do not control what has happened in my prior lives (sanjitha karma) or what is happening in this life (prarabtha karma), I can control how I react to my current situation (agami karma).  A dharmic and purposeful life can increase punyam or decrease pavam.
  4. All karmas – sanjitha, prarabtha and agami karmas- are the results of my actions in this life and previous lives.  I did have control over any and all of my actions of my previous lives.  I do have control over any and all of my actions in this life. I and I alone created all of my karmas.  While my adharmic choices in the past have resulted in current unfavorable situations,  I should make dharmic choices here and now.  I can’t change the choices I have made in the past, but I do have the free will to make the correct choices now.
  5. When prarabtha karma for this life is exhausted, the body falls.
  6. When sanjitha karma is exhausted,  we get moksha or liberated.

Swamiji stated that some of the prarabtha karma are parapalam  and some  are dhurpalam, that is they are weak and controllable or strong and non controllable.  However, we do not know which ones we can control and which ones we can not control.  So we must always exercise our free will and make dharmic choices.  We may also be able to reduce the impact of the controllable prarabtha karma by doing prayachitham (remedial measures).  Prayachithams are of two types:

  1. Lowkika prayachitham:  These are worldly activities we can perform.  Example of a  lowkika prayachitham is going to a doctor when getting ill.
  2. Sasthrika prayachitham:  These are the rituals mentioned in scriptures.  If these rituals are performed as described in the scriptures, the impact of prarabtha karma can be reduced or eliminated.

When we face any adverse situation we should always do our dharmic duty and take proper prayachitham – either lowkika prayahitham or sasthrika pryachitham.  For example, when one gets  seriously ill, one  should seek the treatment from a doctor.  Refusing to follow medical advice and accepting the medical condition as our destiny is fatalism.  Our scriptures do not allow fatalism and fatalism is fundamentally against the duties of a human being.  Bagawan Krishna has emphasized this many times in Bagawat Geeta.

In conclusion, we always have free will and that free will gives us control over Agami Karma.  A dharmic life can reduce agami karma pavam. We can also do some prayaschitham for prarabtha Karma to mitigate a negative phalam.

Notes:

  • This post is based on my meeting with Swamiji in August 2016 as well many of his classes, specifically his classes in Tatva Bodha and his class number 148 – Chapter 10, Verse 33 of Bagawat Gita.  I also recommend the readers to listen to  those classes and get their own perspective (this post is from my perspective).
  • I thank Ram Ramaswamy for framing this question in logical way.  Many parts of this post are borrowed from his original question, which is reproduced below:

To exhaust Prarabhda karma one gets rebirth. This is destiny. While living, one experiences prarabhdha karma phalam, this too is destiny. Once Prarabhda Karma is exhausted for this lifetime, the body falls. This is also destiny.

Agami Karma’s are new karmas generated by our actions in this lifetime. Some Agami Karma phalam will occur in this lifetime itself. Others will become Sanchitha Karma that will come back in a later life.

We do have some control on Agami Karma or so it appears. A purposeful life can reduce agami karma. We can also do some Prayaschitham for Prarabhda Karma as well to mitigate a negative phalam.

Looks like there is an only a small portion that we can influence. Most of our life appears destined. Our birth is destined. Our death is destined. Some parts of our life are also destined; we just do not know which part.

Is it then correct to say that based upon the part  (Small) we do not control, our life is not destined? Even Ramana Maharishi told his mother: What has to happen will happen. What should not happen will not happen, however much we try. Is this not destiny?