9/1/2015. ॐ श्रीपरमात्मने नमः । WHAT IS AN ACTION (KARMA)? While deliberating in length about the body, we saw that the body is an instrument of fulfilling the desires. To Materilise the desires, one has to do something, some gesture, some movement, some activity; this gesture etc is called an action, Karma. The action is as important as the body itself, because there is no use of body if it is not able to transact the action. Moreover the Atman generally resides in the present body, as long as body is serviceable for transacting the actions aiming at fulfilling the desires. The moment the body renders unserviceable for the materializing the desires, an inbuilt programming in the body at once comes into action and starts the process that ends into the death of this present body. It is very interesting that what you call a disease, is many a times, actually a remedy invoked by the body itself to end it smoothly, so that new body can be attained that can transact the desires. Krishna has given a very intelligent, all inclusive and revolutionary definition of the action in Gita, but very few Masters have paid attention to it. As such the definition of Karma is only place in entire Gita where Krishna has tied the Karma with the Sanskar and subsequent birth and death cycle along with indirectly reckoning the happiness and distress in the form of Fruits of Action (Prarbdhakarma) in the subsequent lives. Arjun asks Krishna: “What is an action?” in Gita-8/1. Answering the question Krishna says: “भूतभावोद्भवकरो विसगॅ: कमॅसंज्ञित:”।। (Gita-8/3). Different Acharyas have derived different meanings of this beautiful shloka. I liked the meaning derived by the Adi Shankaracharya. He says: “By action is meant the offerings which bring about the origin of the existence of things”. I would like to substitute the “things” with “all creatures”. Offering here means relinquishing energy in the form of human labor, in the form of some activity. Krishna says Karma is that activity, which brings into existence the cycle of birth and death of all creatures, governed by the inbuilt mechanism under which all creatures get fruits according to their Karma. See the richness of the words of Sanskrit. The word Karma itself manifests that you are free to do any action, but be prepared for the consequences of that action. How Karma can be that powerful that it can inflict on you the responsibility to undergo the effects of its results? Let us try to understand. You know the marble. When you through the marble in the sky, it will soon hit the floor with the force. The force is in the form of accumulated momentum. The amount of momentum will reciprocate with the ultimate height from where it started its downward journey to hit the floor. After it hits the floor, the marble again flies in the sky three-four times, as per the accumulated momentum, before it gets static on the floor. This is as per the rule of elasticity and the rule of velocity as defined by the Newton. Every substance in nature is bound to follow this rule. Our mind is also inert subtle substance, and is bound to follow the same rule. So when you do a Karma in one life with a sense of urge, ego and doership, that doing accumulates the momentum in the mind proportionate to the urge, ego and doership to do it, and that accumulated momentum compels the mind to do same sort of things repeatedly as per the amount of accumulated momentum in the next births when it touches the earth. This is called conditioning of the mind, the Rigidity of mind, the Sanskar. This momentum is added every time with every new action done, and will continue to be added till you have urge, ego and sense of doership in you. More tomorrow. हरिः ॐ तत् सत् ।
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 01:56:43 +0000
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