Now that we have established what this universal law is, let us look at its potential impact on human society today. Though this law is universal, its impact varies. Those who do not have a concept of a higher goal or moksha will be influenced by this belief in one way. Those who strive to attain that higher goal of moksha will strive to apply this law to their lives in its entirety.
Let’s first consider the larger section of society, those who do not necessarily acknowledge the goal of Moksha. First of all, there is a fundamental lacuna to the stability of individuals who function without belief in the law of karma and reincarnation.
Inequality: There is stark inequality in life. Take for example a child who is born blind. If each life starts with a clean slate and ends at the moment of death, why this inequality? This then necessarily means that there is a power beyond that determines fortune and misfortune. This power, or God, begins to be perceived as cruel for why would God permit such gross inequality? This leads to resentment. We see this resentment in society today. A child gets molested and the entire family loses faith in God. This seems natural because why should one believe in a God who would subject a child to this cruelty? The moment tragedy strikes, there is always the same question, “God! Why me?” Such a faith system naturally becomes unstable.
The law of Karma provides the only sustainable and logical justification for the suffering we see in the world. It takes the blame away from God or some unseen super power and places it squarely on our own shoulders. How does this faith help us?
जानामि धर्मं न च मे प्रवृत्तिर्जानामि पापं न च मे निवृत्तिः ।
केनापि देवेन हृदि स्थितेन यथा नियुक्तोऽस्मि तथा करोमि ॥
“I know what dharma is, yet I cannot get myself to follow it! I know what adharma is, yet I cannot retire from it! O Lord of the senses! You dwelt in my heart and I will do as you impel me to do.”
We can argue, “One must do dharma for the stability of society. We should perform only dharmic actions to ensure the harmony of nature.” Yet, this argument also falls through the cracks, because we see so many people perform adharmic actions yet they attain material prosperity. If their adharmic actions would lead to immediate degradation of their social, economic and material standing, then why don’t we see that in the world today? The law of karma plays an important role here.
First of all, mankind’s selfishness has reached such heights in the present day, that we don’t even care if the harmony of nature is destroyed or if those around us are suffering. But, if we are told that WE ourselves will have to suffer as a result of immoral actions, then we start trying to behave. It’s just like the legal system today. We are afraid to steal because we could be arrested and our freedom compromised as a result. So, fear of suffering or punishment is an important part of maintaining morality in our human society. The concept of Karma forms a sort of divine court of law. As Amma, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, says, “We will have to answer to the judge of Karma – the judge of our own conscience. There all our actions have been recorded, like on a tape recorder.” A lack of such understanding as to the consequence of our actions, has played a significant role in the degradation of moral values in society.
There is a very fascinating study that was done within the confines of modern scientific research methodology(4). This study was actually able to prove that individuals who believe in karma, as compared to those who do not, were more likely to do “right” things such as avoiding overconsumption. Another study proved that those who believe in the law of karma were more likely to purchase items of functional purpose rather than pleasure and if we needed to increase sales of items from pleasure in this group it was better to advertise them in terms of a shortened temporal perspective so as to reduce the feeling of ‘wrongdoing’ in the mind of the prospective buyer(5).
Likewise, when we understand that the problems we face in life are a result of our own previous mistakes or actions, we are able to accept these situations and move on.
Take the example of Draupadi in the Mahabharata(6). Though Arjuna won Draupadi’s hand in marriage, after a turn of events, she ended up a bride to all five pandavas. When this was proposed to King Drupada, he was confused, as one man could marry many wives but he had not heard of the opposite before. Maharishi Vyasa explained that this situation is actually a result of Draupadi’s past actions – She had asked a boon from Lord Shankara, ” I wish to have a husband who is accomplished in every way.” But, in her excitement, she repeated the prayer five times and as a result, she ended up having five husbands in this birth. Once, this story was recounted, the situation, though seemingly strange, was accepted and they were all able to move forward. Similarly, when we find ourselves in uncomfortable situations which are out of our control, understanding that we are reaping the results of our own previous actions can help us to accept the situation better.
“O lord of men, I again saw a similar pool full of lotuses. Thinking it to be made out of crystal, I fell into the water. At this Partha and Vrikodhara laughed out loudly at me, and so did Draupadi and the other women. This pained my heart. My garments, having become wet, the servants gave me others on the King’s orders and this too made me more miserable. O Lord of men, in trying to go out through what looked like a door, but wasn’t a door, I hit my head on a crystal slab and got hurt. Seeing this from a distance, the twins were amused. Sahadeva repeatedly told me, “Oh King! This is the door. Pass this way.” This is the reason why my heart is burning.”
Amma says that this was possibly the trigger point for the entire Mahabharata war. The laughter of the Pandavas on his account was so humiliating to Duryodhana that he was not able to get over it. He could not find it in his heart to forgive and as a result his 100 brothers along with his Guru’s grandfather and the other hundreds of thousands of people who fought with him all lost their lives. This is a common phenomenon in the world around us. Our own inability to forgive causes us so much suffering. Understanding that we are the reason that we suffer and those who we perceive to be the cause of our suffering are merely puppets of Karma will certainly help us let go and move on.
Work Ethic: The western world often criticizes Indian Culture saying that the nature of our philosophy lends to a fatalistic attitude, “If it is my fate to remain poor then I should just experience it and not try to change my situation.” This is an abuse of the concept of Karma. In fact, the very essence of the law of Karma is that we write our fate, we draw our destiny. There are so many examples of this in Mahabharata. For example, Ekalavya, he was born as a Nishada and as such was not able to learn archery from Dronacharya. Though he had to pay for training without his teacher’s permission, he never let any of his misfortunes deter him. His perseverance is a perfect example of writing our own fate. If the actions of our past have determined our present moment, then we hold the power to write our future within our palms. If understood properly, conviction in this law should aid in increasing our enthusiasm to make positive changes in our lives.
Now, when we acknowledge that moksha is the goal we intend to achieve, and aim to reach that state, then we also gain a deeper understanding of the other part of this law: Karma begets a result only if it is performed with desire. Though these concepts are touched upon in the Katha Upanishad(8) and Isa Upanishad(9), there is no other dialogue in creation that explains this aspect of the law of Karma better than the Bhagavadgita.
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||
Bhagavadgita 2.47
“You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.”
Sri Krishna explains that as long as we live in the level of duality, God or Ishwara Chaithanya inhabits everything in the universe and only He can claim ownership and doership of everything – The Macrocosmic form of God. As the individual, our duty is to acknowledge His universality and live as his devotees. Since he inhabits our bodies also as our very selves, all our actions, awareness and dynamism arise from Him only and should be offered to Him only. Yet, this attitude remains only as long as we acknowledge that we are separate from God.
This also gives the concept of renunciation a completely new meaning. Renunciation is not mere renunciation of the world and worldly life, but renunciation of the fruit of one’s actions. As per person functioning in society, we are essentially meant to perform actions as a representative of God, from the perspective of creation and for the order and regularity of society. Such a person can also become free of all bondage of action or Karma if one performs action as a worship to God and with detachment. Such a person’s life and actions assume a greater significance than that of a Monk who lives a secluded life, shuns society and contributes nothing much to it. In fact, the Bhagavadgita states that actions cannot be judged by their appearance. It’s the state of mind that determines what is action and inaction.
त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रय: |
कर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्तोऽपि नैव किञ्चित्करोति स: ||
Bhagavadgita 4.20
“Such people, having given up attachment to the fruits of their actions, are always satisfied and not dependent on external things. Despite engaging in activities, they do not do anything at all.”
Thus, Sri Krishna explains to Arjuna how to perform actions without incurring Karma at all. And a brilliant demonstration of this concept is the Mahabharata war! Jagadguru Sri Krishna calls out to his disciple, Arjuna, “Surrender you action to me and go to war as a worship of me, then I will take care of all your Karma – your Yoga and Kshema.”(10) If even the action of war can be transformed into a worship of the Sadguru’s lotus feet, then what to say of any other action? This very field of life, irrespective of its trials and tribulations, becomes a grand yajna to our Guru!
Amma was asked, “If understanding this law of Karma is so fundamental to the understanding of life, then why is it that people don’t accept it readily?” Amma gave a beautiful answer, ” This is because there is a delay between most of our actions and their results. Touching fire and getting our hands burnt are simultaneous, so it isn’t difficult for us to connect the two. However, in the case of other actions, many people do wrong deeds like theft, rape and murder, but few people are caught in the act. Later on, when we actually experience the result of such negative actions, we are unable to make the connection. Often, the result of something we did to a certain person does not come back from the same person. It can come back to us suddenly, at an unexpected time and involving a totally different person. The course of fate is beyond our understanding. This is why we fail to develop an awareness of dharma, in spite of experiencing the results of our actions.” This is the reason why people fail to believe in the Law of Karma – Summarized beautifully by Amma.
The reality is that we have no control over our past. What has happened in the past is completely beyond our hands. But, unlike any other species in creation, we have the power to determine our future through the discriminative actions performed in the present. And ‘future’ is not limited to the few years ahead of us, it includes the lifetimes ahead. This is the real power and potential of Karma. It is infinite! This is clearly defined in the law of Karma. This is what needs to be transmitted to the psyche of humanity.
Why are Itihasas so important when it comes to understanding the Law of Karma? Just as Amma has explained many times, Karma is essentially a concept of faith. We cannot actually remember what we have done in previous lives and we don’t have any scientific way of confirming this theory. We intellectually understand this as stated in the Upanishads. Yet, the Itihasas, especially Mahabharata is verily a demonstration of the functionality and practicality of the Law of Karma. It demonstrates how actions affect us lifetimes later – Draupadi having five husbands, Bhishma and Shikhandi etc., all these stories paint us an authentic picture of this great law and help strengthen our conviction in the need to apply it in our day to day lives. In fact, in the Adi Parva(11), the previous lives of most of the main characters in Mahabharata have been described. This helps us to view actions and their results in entirety, like a meta-analysis, and through this, we get a sneak peek at the nuances of actions and their reactions. No other scripture has as great a power to do this as the greatest Itihasa, the fifth Veda, Mahabharata.
As Amma says, there are two types of education – education for living and education for life. In a world that exclusively focuses on education for a living, our lives have become permeated with confusion and darkness. Dharma has become obscured and it’s hard to understand right from wrong. To make matters worse, as Rishi Vyasa says in Mahabharata(12):
ya eva dharmahׅ so’dharmo’ des՛e kāle pratisׅthitahׅ |
ādānamanrׅtamׅ himׅsā dharmo vyāvasthׅikah smrׅtahׅ ||
“Whether a certain action is an instance of dharma or adharma depends on the situation or circumstance in which action takes place.”
So, dharma is a living entity which undergoes permutations and changes with time. This adds to our dilemma. However, the Law of Karma simply stated remains the same, a lighthouse amidst the storm. Though the nuances of karmaphala or karmagathih are beyond the understanding of the human mind, the fundamental concept remains unchanging – the use of Karma as a path to ultimate freedom. As with any other field of study, one can never attain perfection without the loving guidance of a qualified teacher. We are so fortunate to have a Sadguru, one who is verily living proof of action in inaction; Karma without Phala, living admits us. Under her ever-watchful gaze, we have been given this opportunity to dive into the greatest Itihasa ever created – Mahabharata.
May the light of knowledge shed by this great Itihasa forever illuminate the minds and hearts of all humanity and may it encourage all of us to seek the ultimate goal of life, Moksha.
Om Amriteshwaryai Namah.
References:
(1). Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (4.4.5/4.4.6)
(2). Reichenbach, B. R. (1988). The Law of Karma and the Principle of Causation. Philosophy East and West, 38(4), 399. doi:10.2307/1399118
(3). Pandava Gita verse 57
(4). Chen, Siyun et al. “Believing in Karma: The Effect of Mortality Salience on Excessive Consumption.” Frontiers in psychology vol. 10 1519. 8 Jul. 2019, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01519
(5). Kulow K., Kramer T. (2016). In pursuit of good karma: when charitable appeals to do right go wrong. J. Consum. Res. 43 334–353. 10.1093/jcr/ucw018
(6). Adi parva – Vaivahika Parva – 189 (The Mahabharata, Translated by Bibek Debroy part 1)
(7). Sabha Parva – Dyuta upaparva – 271(460) (The Mahabharata, Translated by Bibek Debroy part 2)
(8). Katha Upanishad (1.2.20)
अणोरणीयान्महतो महीयानात्मास्य जन्तोर्निहितो गुहायां ।
तमक्रतुः पश्यति वीतशोको धातुः प्रसादान्महिमानमात्मनः ॥ २० ॥
Meaning: Subtler than the subtle, greater than the great, in the heart of each living being, the atman reposes. One free from desire, with his mind and the senses composed, sees the glory of the atman and becomes absolved from grief.
(9). Isa Upanishad (1/2)
ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् ।
तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्य स्विद्धनम् ॥ १ ॥
Meaning: All this—whatsoever moveth on the earth—should be covered by the Lord. That renounced, enjoy. Covet not anybody’s wealth.
कुर्वन्नेवेह कर्माणि जिजीविषेच्छतं समाः ।
एवं त्वयि नान्यथेतोऽस्ति न कर्म लिप्यते नरे ॥ २ ॥
Meaning: Should one wish to live a hundred years on this earth, he should live doing Karma. While thus, (as) man, you live, there is no way other than this by which Karma will not cling to you.
(10). Bhagavad Gita 9.22
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जना: पर्युपासते |
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् || 22||
Meaning: here are those who always think of Me and engage in exclusive devotion to Me. To them, whose minds are always absorbed in Me, I provide what they lack and preserve what they already possess.
(11). Adi parva – Sambhava upaparva 59-64 (The Mahabharata, Translated by Bibek Debroy part 1)
(12). Principle underlying Aapaddharma – Rajadharma section of the Shantiparva (37.8)
Author Profile:
Dr. Priya Nair is currently working as Assistant Professor at the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department in Amrita Hospital. She is an alumni of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kochi.
Disclaimer : This article belongs to the author in full, including opinions and insights. Amrita University is not responsible or liable for the information contained in this article, or its implications therein
