37. KARMA

Jiva is beginningless because he is born of ignorance which is beginningless. During this existence. Jiva assumes different forms and goes through countless births and deaths. While in human form, the Jiva performs actions (Karmas) which are both good and bad. Whether an action is good or bad, is determined by the motive, rather than the gross act. The law of Karma is that every action is a cause and it will produce an effect in course of time. Every action produces a subtle counterpart depending upon the motive with which the action is performed. The subtle counterparts produced due to good actions are called Punya and those due to bad actions are called Papa.

37.1 कर्माणि कतिविधानि सन्तीति चेत् आगामिसञ्चितप्रारब्धभेदेन त्रिविधानि सन्ति ।

If it is asked: How many kinds of Karma are there? (the reply is): there are three kinds of Karma namely: Agami, Sanchita and Prarabdha.

37.2 ज्ञानोत्पत्त्यनंतरं ज्ञानिदेहकृतं पुण्यपापरूपं कर्म यदस्ति तदागामीत्यभिधीयते ।

The result of actions good or bad performed through the body of the Inani after the dawn of knowledge is known as Agami.

Agami Karma

The Jiva performs actions during his existence in human form, while exhausting his Prarabdha Karma. Such actions performed wilfully with the notion of doership (ego) result in Punyas and Papas and are called Agami Karma. When the present physical body is given up, these Agami Karmas get converted to the Sanchita Karmas, to be fructified in future. The Agami Karmas are generated only when the Jiva is in human form. Because animals and other living beings live a life based on instincts there is no ego or the notion of doership in their actions. Agami Karmas cannot be generated unless there is the notion of doership.

37.3 सञ्चितं कर्म किम् ?

What is Sanchita Karma?

37.4 अनन्तकोटिजन्मनां बीजभूतं सत् यत्कर्मजातं पूर्वार्जितं तिष्ठति तत् सञ्चितं ज्ञेयम् ।

The result of actions performed in (all) the previous births which are in the seed form to give rise to endless crores of births (in future) is called Sanchita (accumulated) Karma.

Sanchita Karma

The Punyas and Papas accumulate and come to fruition in course of time. In the countless births in the past, the Jiva has accumulated a large amount of Punya and Papa. This store of Karma is called Sanchita Karma. It, as if, stands in the account of the Jiva, awaiting its fruition. Sanchita Karma is comparable to a large fixed deposit consisting of different investments that mature at different times. What is deposited will mature.

37.5 प्रारब्धं कर्म किमिति चेत् ।

If it is questioned, “What is Prarabdha Karma”? then:

37.6 इदं शरीरमुत्पाद्य इह लोके एवं सुखदुःखादिप्रदं यत्कर्म तत्प्रारब्धं भोगेन नष्टं भवति प्रारब्धकर्मणां भोगादेव क्षय इति।

Having given birth to this body, the actions which give results in this very world, in the form of happiness or misery, and which can be destroyed only by enjoying or suffering them, is called Prarabdha Karma.

38. Prarabdha Karma

The Karmas that have come to fruition at the time the Jiva takes birth are called Prarabdha Karma. These are com-parable to that portion of the deposit, which has matured.

The Prarabdha Karma determines the form of body and the type of environment most suitable for its expression. Thus a Jiva would take birth as an animal to exhaust certain type of Karmas and as a human being, to exhaust some others. Once again, whether the Jiva is in a pleasant or an unpleasant environment is determined by the type of Karmas. The human body is obtained as a result of good Karmas (Satkarmajanyam). The Jiva experiences pleasure and pain as a result of good and bad Karmas and the body falls when all the Prarabdha Karmas (which have given rise to this present body), are exhausted.

Pure Punyas are exhausted in a field of experience called the Heaven (Svarga) and pure Papas are exhausted in a field of experience called the Hell (Naraka). The human body is a result of a mixture of Punya and Papa in which Punya is pre-dominant. Animal and other bodies result from a mixture in which Papa is predominant.

The law of Karma and the three types of Karmas explain the variety and diversity found in human life as well as nature in general. Some people are happy and some are not. Even in animal and plant life, these diversities are evident. The cause is the varieties of Karmas and their manifestation.

FREEDOM FROM BONDAGE

38. सञ्चितं कर्म ब्रह्मवाहमिति निश्चयात्मकज्ञानेन नश्यति ।

The Sanchita Karma is destroyed by the Knowledge ‘I am Brahman’

38.1 आगामि कर्म अपि ज्ञानेन नश्यति किंच आगामि कर्मणां नलिनीदलगतजलवत् ज्ञानिनां सम्बन्धो नास्ति ।

The Agami Karma is also destroyed by Jnana – and the Jnani is not affected by it just as a lotus leaf is not affected by the water on it.

38.2 किंच ये ज्ञानिनं स्तुवन्ति भजन्ति अर्चयन्ति तान्प्रति ज्ञानिकृतं आगामि पुण्यं गच्छति । ये ज्ञानिनं निन्दन्ति द्विषन्ति दुःखप्रदानं कुर्वन्ति तान्प्रति ज्ञानि कृतं सर्वमागामि क्रियमाणं यदवाच्यं कर्म पापात्मकं तद्गच्छति ।

किंच ये ज्ञानिनं स्तुवन्ति भजन्ति अर्चयन्ति तान्प्रति ज्ञानिकृतं आगामि पुण्यं गच्छति ।

Further those who praise, worship and adore the Inani, to them go the results of the good actions done by the Inani.

ये ज्ञानिनं निन्दन्ति द्विषन्ति दुःखप्रदानं कुर्वन्ति तान्प्रति ज्ञानि कृतं सर्वमागामि क्रियमाणं यदवाच्यं कर्म पापात्मकं तद्गच्छति ।

Those who abuse, hate or cause pain or sorrow to a Jnani – to them go the results of the sinful actions done by the Jnani.

38.3 तथा चात्मवित्संसारं तीर्खा ब्रह्मानन्दमिहैव प्राप्नोति ।तरति शोकमात्मवित् इति श्रुतेः ।

तथा चात्मवित्संसारं तीर्खा ब्रह्मानन्दमिहैव प्राप्नोति ।

Thus the knower of the Self, having crossed the Samsara, attains the Supreme Bliss here itself.

तरति शोकमात्मवित् इति श्रुतेः ।

The Sruti affirms: ‘The knower of the self goes beyond all sorrows.

Because of the immediate knowledge of the Self, the Jivanmukta becomes free from all the bondages of Karma. The bondages of Karma lead to the process of birth and death but the Jivanmukta is free from it.

A dreamer, who experiences the results of his dream-actions, immediately becomes free from them when he wakes. up. The waker does not have to bear the consequences of any ‘bad deeds’ he might have performed in the dream. Similarly, a realised soul that a Jivanmukta is, transcends the waking state into the Absolute (TURIYA) state and becomes free from actions performed in this relative existence. Knowledge removes ignorance, which is the cause for the bondage.

A Jivanmukta who has acquired the vision of the Self, automatically becomes free from the effects of all the Sanchita and Agami Karmas. The Jivanmukta is like a man awakened from sleep and therefore unattached or free from the effects. of Karmas performed in the dream state. By removing the cause for bondage, i.e. ignorance, the realised man becomes free from the effects of Karmas which result from ignorance.

The Jivanmukta lives until his body exhausts the effects of the Prarabdha Karma. He does not accumulate any Agami Karma (because there is no notion of doership). The body continues to perform actions but he is not affected by them because he does not identify himself with the body. Neverthe-less, the body does accumulate Karmas which have to apply themselves somewhere. How are these Karmas exhausted?

The body (gross or subtle) of a Jnani performs actions which generate both Punya and Papa. The Punyas are trans-ferred to those who praise, worship and adore the Jivanmukta. The Papas are transferred to those who hate or cause pain or sorrow to the Jnani. Thus the Jivanmukta is free

from the effects of any Karmas performed by the body, after the vision of the Self has been gained. He has no more to take birth in any form because he has no Karmas to exhaust. Thus the Jivanmukta has crossed the cycle of Samsara, the chain of repeated births and deaths.

The realised man goes above the limitations of physical existence, although his existence does look limited. Just as a man who views himself in a distorted or a concave mirror knows that he is free from the limitations of the distorted image, a Jnani also knows that he is not bound by the limita-tions of the body. The bondage of Karma is caused by ignor-ance which is not real and is therefore erased by the knowledge of the Self.

Knowledge is the only means of realizing the Self, just as fire is the only means of cooking the food. Just as fuel, etc. are required to set up the fire, methods and techniques are re-quired to prepare oneself for the knowledge. Such techniques of self-purification to acquire the four-fold qualifications (described earlier) are called Yoga and the science dealing with them is called Yoga Sastra. The process of gaining the subjective knowledge is Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana. This process is called Jnana Sadhana and the science dealing with it, i.e. Vedanta, is called Sruti. Anything except the Vedas, is called the Smriti. The Smriti upholds the teachings of Sruti.

38.4 तनुं त्यजतु वा काश्यां श्वपचस्य गृहेऽथ वा। ज्ञानसंप्राप्तिसमये मुक्ताऽसौ विगताशयः । इतिस्मृतेश्च ।

Let the Inani cast his body in Kasi (a sacred place) or in the house of a dog eater (Chandala), (it is immaterial because) at the time of gaining the knowledge (itself) he is liberated being freed from ail results of actions. So assert the Smritis too.

The Jivanmukta is already liberated in this life. Just as what he does, does not bind him so the place where and the manner in which he dies also do not affect him. There is a general belief derived from religious teachings, that a person should preferably die at a chosen place (e.g. at Kasi on the banks of the Ganges) during certain period (e.g. in Uttarayan) and in a certain manner (Urdhva Gati, in which the Prana is supposed to leave through the skull). These things may possibly indicate something for a Jiva, but for a Jnani, it is immaterial where he dies (whether at a sacred place such as Kasi or a detestable place such as in the house of a Chandala). He has already become free from all concerns, the moment he gained Knowledge of the Self.

इति तत्त्वबोधप्रकरणं समाप्तम् ।

Thus ends the Prakarana called Tattva Bodha.