Decoding Karma - Part 2
Posted on Oct 10, 2020 by Ms. Sonal Narang
Listen to this audio blog:
Nidhi:
Ms. Narang, in the previous episode you spoke about how karma is a fundamental mechanism of our existence and that our karma identifies with our self, our activities and everything that happens in our lives are nothing but divinely ordained karmic reactions.
Can you please tell us why do we see many vikarmis enjoying the opulence of life happily?
Ms. Narang:
That is one question that troubles almost each one of us.
The answer to this is that every action we perform is like a seed sown. Just as different seeds, such as rice seeds or mango seeds, bear fruits at different rates, so do different karmic seeds. But while we can discard the ripe produce if it turns out bad, we can't discard the bad fruit of our karmic seeds. We have to eat or suffer, every single karmic fruit that we have sown. Also, it's quite possible that we enjoy the old harvest first and then come to the bad produce after a certain period of time.
Napoleon Bonaparte enjoyed his life and rule till his good karma lasted but had to die a sad death in solitude with rapidly declining health. Similarly, Dhritarashtra in Mahabharat was a hunter fifty births back and once threw a burning net on a tree causing a hundred birds to be burnt to death while the remaining birds flew away but became blind due to the scorching heat.
Due to the effect of this sin, he was destined to remain blind and also lose his hundred sons in the Kuruksetra war. Then he had to wait for an opportune time, for upto fifty births, during which time he earned and accumulated enough pious deeds to attain the merit to be eligible enough to get a hundred sons in one lifetime.
Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (4.17) that karma works in complex ways, difficult to understand. God knows best what reaction has to be given at what time and under what conditions. Therefore, some reactions may come in this lifetime, some in the next, and some in a distant future lifetime. The life span of our soul is not simply from birth to death in our present body but encompasses the baggage of actions of our previous lifetimes too.
Nidhi:
I'm quite happy the way I am. Why do I need to understand karma?
Ms. Narang:
Let me just rephrase the statement - you mean to say, at present, I think I am happy the way I am, this feeling is bound to change as nothing is permanent in this world. Krishna calls this world - dukhalayam ashashvatam - a temporary world which is a house of miseries.
The workings of karma tally with the saying:
"The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine."
Sooner or later, every single action of ours will be accounted for.
In a scriptural sense, karma primarily means actions done in accordance with one's duties prescribed in the revealed scriptures. Vikarma refers to actions done contrary to the scriptures by the misuse of one's free will and they take one down to the lower forms of life.
But it is vitally important for us to know that even if we do good karma, that good karma will bring good reactions and this means he will have to still stay in the material world to enjoy those good reactions. For example, if somebody offers free water taps in charity, that is certainly good karma, but the reaction for it is that he has to take another birth in which he will never suffer from shortage of water. He might take birth near a lake or a river. Similarly, if somebody gives school textbooks in charity, then in his next life he might become the owner of a printing factory. But, birth in the material world means he has to grow old, get diseased, has to die, and has to suffer the three-fold miseries of material existence.
Thus, even by good karma we don't get out of the material world, because good karma is not necessarily Godly karma or akarma. As long as we are forgetful of God, we stay on in the material world. The real way to come out of this material world, which is the place of suffering, is by developing our devotional service to God, which is actually akarma.
Nidhi:
Are you saying that we should shun the material world totally and live with a trust in God, accepting whatever life offers to you without resistance, judgment or expectation? Such a life would be closer to Sanyas, or renunciation, wouldn't it?
Ms. Narang:
We wouldn't be able to do that honestly because we are all active souls - our innate nature is to be active. And akarma, which translates literally as "no activity," doesn't mean inactivity, but activity that brings no reaction, activity that frees one from the cycle of birth and death.
Devotional service to the Lord is akarma. It brings the ultimate freedom from the karmic entanglement because by its very nature it is a transcendental activity.
The precise science of karma is thus not a science of condemnation, it is the science of redemption. It's message is not “You are sinful, suffer”. But its message is, “Whatever be your past karma for which you are suffering now, just surrender to God and He will shower His mercy on you and save you”.
Nidhi:
I get your point... Akarma does not mean sitting idle or doing nothing. It means activities that do not bind us to the material world but activities or devotional services that are pleasing to God and do not invite any karmic manifestations. Is that correct?
Ms. Narang:
Bingo ! you got that right. akarma is that neutral stage or platform where our actions do not accrue any reactions.
Devotional service or akarma provides us with the following four valuable gifts:
- Discrimination of right and wrong
- Determination to follow the right and avoid wrong
- Minimization of sinful reactions
- Inner strength to face suffering
In conclusion, irrespective of whatever our past karma may be, the spiritually scientific process of devotional service is the best path to the highest happiness in this life and the next.
Nidhi:
Thank you Ms. Narang for your insightful thoughts. We feel uplifted and enriched. Stay blessed and we look forward to having you with us again. May God bless you for the wonderful work you are doing and keep on uplifting souls wherever you go.