CHAPTER IV.
KARMA
KARMA is a Sanskrit word which means action, but it is generally used to mean a certain definite connection between what is being done now and what will happen in the future. Things do not happen by accident, by chance, in a disorderly way. They happen in regular succession ; they follow each other in a regular order.
If a seed is planted in the ground, it sends up a little stem, and leaves grow on the stem and the flowers come, and then fruits, and in the fruits are seeds again. And one of these seeds planted will produce a stem, and leaves, and flowers and fruits and seeds. The same sort of seed produces the same kind of plants. Rice produces rice-plants; barley produces barley; wheat produces wheat; thistle produces thistle; cactus produces cactus. If a man sows thistles, he must not expect a crop of sweet grapes; if he plants prickly cactus, he must not expect to gather juicy apples. This is karma, and a man, knowing it, sows the seed of the thing he wants to reap. This is the first thing to remember.
Now an action is not quite so simple a thing as it looks. If I ask a person, "Why do you walk into the town?" he will say: "I wanteds pair of shoes, and I thought I could get them there;" or - " l wanted to see a freind and I thought he was in the town;" and so on, in many ways, but always:- " I wanted and I thought therefore I acted." These three are always found together.
Now a want is what is called a desire; we desire to get something that is the first stage; then we think how to get it that is the second stage; then we act so as to get it that is the third stage. This is the regular order; every action has a thought behind it and every thought has a desire behind it. These three things action, thought, desire are the three threads that are twisted into the cord of karma.
Our actions make the people round us happy or unhappy; if we make them happy, we have sown happiness like a seed, and it grows up into happiness for ourselves; if we make them un- happy, we have sown un-happiness like a seed, and it grows up into un-happiness for ourselves. If we do cruel things, we sow cruelty like a seed, and it grows up into cruelty to ourselves. If we do kind things, we sow kindness like a seed, and it grows up into kindness to ourselves. Whatever we sow by our actions comes back to us. This is karma. But action has thought behind it.
Now thought makes what is called our CHARACTER , the nature and kind of mind that we have. As we think about a thing a great deal, our mind becomes like that thing. If we think kindly, we become kind; if we think cruelly, we become cruel; if we think deceitfully, we become deceitful ; if we think honestly, we become honest. In this way our CHARACTER is made by our thoughts, and when we are born again, we shall be born with the CHARACTER that is being made, by our thoughts now.
As we act according to our NATURE , or CHARACTER as a kind person acts kindly, or a cruel person acts cruelly it is easy to see that actions in our next life will depend on the thoughts of our present life. This is karma.
But thought has desire behind it. Now desire brings us the object we wish for. As a magnet attracts soft iron, so does desire attract objects. If we desire money, we shall have the opportunity of becoming rich in another life. If we desire learning, we shall have the opportunity of becoming learned in another life. If we desire love, we shall have the opportunity of becoming loved. If we desire power, we shall have the opportunity of becoming powerful. This is karma.
The student should think over this again and again till he thoroughly understands it. Only when he understands this, can he go on to the more difficult problems of karma. Karma may be summed up in a sentence : " A man reaps as he sows. "
But the student may ask : " If my actions now are the outcome of my past thoughts, and if my past thoughts are the outcome of my past desires, am I not helplessly bound? I must act as I have thought. I must think as I have desired." That is true, but to a certain extent only ; for we are changing constantly as we gain new experiences, and the Jiva thus gains more knowledge, and by the help of that changes his desires. In other words, while we have actually desired, thought and acted in a certain way in the past, the possibility of desiring, of thinking otherwise has also been present throughout that past ; and this possibility may be turned, at any time, into actuality, as soon as we realise, by means of new experiences, the evil consequences of acting as we have actually done in the past.
Suppose a man finds that he has acted cruelly: he learns that his cruel action was caused by his cruel thoughts in the past, and that those cruel thoughts grew out of desire to get an object which could only be obtained by cruelty. He sees that his cruel actions make people miserable, that these people hate and fear him, and thus make him lonely and unhappy. He thinks over all this, and he resolves to change, but the pressure of his past thoughts and desires is very difficult to resist.
He goes to the root of the trouble the desire for the things that he can not get without cruelty, and he who is the Jiva says to himself : "I will not let myself desire those things, and whenever I begin to wish for them, I will remember that the desire breeds misery." He uses thought to check desire, instead of letting desire control thought. Then instead of desires carrying him away, as if they were runaway horses, he gradually uses thought as a bridle, and keeps his desires in check. He will only allow them to run after objects that bring happiness when they are obtained. Young Jivas let their desires run away with them, and so bring much unhappiness on themselves; older Jivas grow wiser, and when the desire runs out to an object the possession of which would, as he has found in the past, cause unhappiness, he remembers that past unhappiness, and by his thought pulls the desire back.
The student, then, who would make happiness for others and for himself, must look well after his desires, must find out by observation and study which objects in the long run bring happiness, and which bring unhappiness, and must then try, with all his strength, to desire only those things the out- come of which is happiness. It is very important to realise that escape from the bonds of birth and death is not gained by any special mode of life, but that, as Shri Krshna says :
सर्वभूतस्थितं यो मां भजत्येकत्वमास्थितः।
सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि स योगी मयि वर्तते।।6.31।।
मेरे में एकीभाव से स्थित हुआ जो योगी सम्पूर्ण प्राणियों में स्थित मेरा भजन करता है, वह सब कुछ बर्ताव करता हुआ भी मेरे में ही बर्ताव कर रहा है अर्थात् वह सर्वथा मेरे में ही स्थित है।
" He who, established in unity, worshippeth Me, abiding in all beings, that yogi liveth in Me, whatever his mode of living."*
Janaka, the Kshattriya King and Tuladhara, the Vaishya merchant, equally reached liberation, and that, not by fleeing to the forest, but by the absence of desire for worldly things. Janaka was King in Mithila over the Videhas and, having attained to tranquility of mind, he sang this song: "Unlimited is my wealth, and yet I have naught. If the whole of Mithila be burned up with fire, yet for me there will be nothing lost." **
And so he told Mandavya, having repeated this, that whatever possessions a man might have were but a source of trouble, and that the gratification of desire, here or in heaven, could not afford the sixteenth part of the happiness which comes from the disappearance of desire. As the horns of a cow grow with the cow, so does the desire for wealth grow with its possession. Wealth should be used for the good that can be done with it, but desire is sorrow. Looking on all creatures as on himself, a wise man gains freedom from all anxiety.** (Mahabharatam , Shanti Parva, clxxiii/* Mahabharatam , cccxxvii.* Mahabharatam , cccxxvii. )
By the teaching of the sage याज्ञवल्क्य , King Janaka attained liberation, for it "enabled him to attain to that Brahman which is auspicious and immortal, and which transcends all sorrow." ** (See the great discourse of Yajnavalkya to King Janaka; Ibid. Shanti Parva, cccxi cacxix. libid cccxxvi cccxxviii.) And having thus learned, he became in his turn a teacher, to whom even Vyasa sent his son, Shuka, to learn the religion of emancipation.
Jajali made great tapas, and became filled with pride; and one day he thought within himself: "who in this wide sea and spacious earth is like to me ?" Then cried a voice-. "Say not such words. Even Tuladhara, busy in buying and selling, should not thus speak, and to him thou art not equal."
Then Jajali wondered much that a mere merchant should be put above himself, a Brahmana and an ascetic, and he set forth to find Tuladhra, and thus solve the riddle. Vexing himself, he reached the city of Varanasi, and there found Tuladhara, a mere shopkeeper, selling, to whomsoever came, all kinds of goods. Tuladhara stood up, greeting the Brahmana as was fitting and to him Tuladhara re- lated the story of the great penance that had inflated him with pride: "Angry, thou hast come to me, O' Brahmana; what service can I render thee ? "
Much amazed was Jajali at such knowledge of his past shown by this humble trader, and eagerly he pressed for explanation. Then Tuladhara spoke to him of the ancient morality known to all though practised by so few of living in a way which inflicted harm on none, or when harm could not be totally avoided, a minimum of such harm; he himself asked no loan from any, nor with any quarrelled; attraction and aversion he had conquered; equal his look on all, without praising or blaming any; when a man is tearless and is feared by none, when he neither likes nor dislikes, when he does no wrong to any, then he reaches Brahman. Very beautifully did Tuludhara discourse of the injuries inflicted on animals and on men by cruelty, of the nature of sacrifice, and of true pilgrimage, showing how liberation might be gained by harmlessness. *
काममय एवायं पुरुष इति।
स यथाकामो भवति तत्क्रतुर्भवति।
यत्क्रतुर्भवति तत्कर्म कुरुते।
यत्कर्म कुरुते तदभिसंपद्यते॥(बृहदारण्यकोपनिषत् ४।४।५ ॥)
"Man verily is desire-formed; as is his desire so is his thought; as (his) thought is, so he does action; as he does action, so he attains."
" पुरुष काममय है । जैसी उसकी कामना होती है, वैसी उसकी कर्म की चेष्टा, संकल्प होता है; जैसा संकल्प होता है, वैसा कर्म करता है; जैसा कर्म करता है, वैसा फल पाता है । [यह वर्णन स्पष्टतः सामान्य जीवात्मा के विषय में है । जो पाप भी करती है और पुण्य भी, जबकि ब्रह्मवेत्ता या ब्रह्मविद (ब्रह्म= बृहद , बड़ा, सर्वश्रेष्ठ) –को जानने वाला तो जीवन्मुक्त आत्मा होती है, मोक्ष की भागी होती है । ]
" तदेव सक्तः सह कर्मणैति लिङ्गं मनो यत्र निषक्तमस्य ।" (बृहदारण्यकोपनिषद ४/४ / ६)
" So indeed the desirer goes by work to the object in which his mind is immersed."
[ "Because of attachment, the transmigrating self, together with its work, attains that result to which its subtle body or mind clings. Having exhausted in the other world the results of whatever work it did in this life, it returns from that world to this world for fresh work.Thus does the man who desires transmigrate."
" But as to the man who does not desire-who is without desire, who is freed from desire, whose desire is satisfied, whose only object of desire is the Self-his organs do not depart. Being Brahman, he merges in Brahman.]
अथ खलु ऋतुमयः पुरुषो यथाक्रतुरस्मिंल्लोके पुरुषो भवति तथेतः प्रेत्य भवति। (छान्दोग्य -३/१४ -१/२)
"Now verily man is thought-formed; as man in this world thinks, so, having gone away hence, he becomes."
न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा।
इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते।।4.14।।
एवं ज्ञात्वा कृतं कर्म पूर्वैरपि मुमुक्षुभिः।
कुरु कर्मैव तस्मात्त्वं पूर्वैः पूर्वतरं कृतम्।।4.15।।
"Nor do actions affect Me, nor is the fruit of action desired by Me. He who thus knoweth Me is not bound by actions."
"Having thus known, our forefathers, ever seeking liberation, performed action ; therefore do thou also perform action, as did our forefathers in the
olden time. "
यस्य सर्वे समारम्भाः कामसङ्कल्पवर्जिताः।
ज्ञानाग्निदग्धकर्माणं तमाहुः पण्डितं बुधाः।।4.19।।
त्यक्त्वा कर्मफलासङ्गं नित्यतृप्तो निराश्रयः।
कर्मण्यभिप्रवृत्तोऽपि नैव किञ्चित्करोति सः।।4.20।।
निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः।
शारीरं केवलं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम्।।4.21।।
यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः।
समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते।।4.22।।
गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः।
यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते।।4.23।।
"Whose works are all free from the moulding of desire, whose actions are burned up by the fire of wisdom, him the wise have called a Sage."
"Having abandoned attachment to the fruit of action, always content, nowhere seeking refuge he is not doing anything, although doing actions.
"Hoping for naught, his mind and self controlled, having abandoned all greed, performing action by the body alone, he doth not commit sin."
"Of one with attachment dead, harmonious, with his thoughts established in wisdom, his works sacrifices, all action melts away."
यदा सर्वे प्रमुच्यन्ते कामा येऽस्य हृदि श्रिताः।
अथ मर्त्योऽमृतो भवत्यत्र ब्रह्म समश्नुते ॥ कठोपनिषद् -२/३/१४
"When all the desires hidden in the heart are loosed, then the mortal becomes immortal, then he here enjoyeth Brahman."
आत्मानं रथिनं विद्धि शरीरं रथमेव तु ।
बुद्धिं तु सारथिं विद्धि मनः प्रग्रहमेव च ।।
इंद्रियाणि हयानाहुर्विषयांस्तेषु गोचरान् ।
आत्मेन्द्रियमनोयुक्तं भोक्तेत्याहुर्मनीषिणः ।।
यस्त्वविज्ञानवान्भवत्ययुक्तेन मनसा सदा
तस्येन्द्रियाण्यवश्यानि दुष्टाश्वा इव सारथेः ॥
यस्तु विज्ञानवान्भवति युक्तेन मनसा सदा
तस्येन्द्रियाणि वश्यानि सदश्वा इव सारथेः ॥
यस्त्वविज्ञानवान्भवत्यमनस्कः सदाऽशुचिः।
न स तत्पदमाप्नोति संसारं चाधिगच्छति ॥ (कठोपनिषद् १/३-७)
"Know the Self, the chariot-owner, the body the chariot ; know Reason the charioteer, and the mind as the reins; they call the senses the horses, the sense-objects their province. The Self, joined to the senses and mind, (is) the enjoyer; thus say'the wise. Whoever is ignorant, always with mind loose, his senses (are) uncontrolled, like bad horses of the charioteer. Whoever is wise, always with mind tightened, his senses (are) controlled, like good horses of the charioteer. Whoever is indeed ignorant, thoughtless, always impure, he does not obtain that goal (but) comes again into Samsara."
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