The order of karma
includes the karma that we do here in this life and the karma we brought along
with us. The karma that we brought along with us is the result of karma that we
did before; it need not be in the previous life.
The human life
which includes parentage, place of birth, the contemporary society, in general
the whole humanity, at this period of time - internet humanity. Babies are born
with the hand near the ear (for mobile).
So, it is an entirely different kind of society. I have seen all this
changes in my whole life time. To be born now is entirely different. It is all
karma. It is a combination of karma to be born in an internet society.
The relationship
with father, mother, siblings - I don’t know whether it is the same as it was
before. Why do I say this? Because to be born now, needs a special karma,. So, that is the gati
of karma. Gahana karmano gatih, not easy to track, to trace the karma
for what we have.
So, this karma
flows as though into this life, setting up this life and continues to be the
one which sets up situations, because it is a life-time karma. Karma for your
life-time, for your life. The karma for your life is going to be
unfolding situations for you to face. Not only the past karma unfolds, the
present karma also joins in this unfolding of old karma. So old karma can pull
down the present karma, can enhance the present karma, can completely silence
the present karma; power. The old karma is too powerful. The present karma can
be overwhelmed, overpowered.
We use the
word karma for karmaphala (result of karma) also. The effect is also called by
the cause. Like a shirt is called as cotton, it is cotton. A chain is called
gold.
So when you
say it is my karma, it is karmaphala, the result of karma, punya and papa.
Punya helps you to be at the right place at the right time. And papa
accounts for what is unpleasant. This punya-papa we create by our own karma,
in this life also. We cannot say what unfolds in the
present moment, is on account of which punya or which papa.
The interconnection, the people you hang out with, all this is past
karma, present karma. Past, present,
past, present. They go together. That is why we can create antibodies to
unpleasant karmas, by doing good karma, by prayer. In spite of that something
happens in the present means the karma was powerful.
There are a lot of other things involved in karma. Like sancita karma
(accumulated), agami karma (karmaphala generated in this life). The karma
standing in your account, is over beginningless
time. The jiva has no beginning and
therefore it is a cycle.
We are in svetavaraha kalpa. And the kalpa consists of manvantaras, and
out of them our manvantara is vavaisvata. A manvantara consists on yugas, and
among the four yugas our yuga is kali yuga. Kali yuga consists of four
quarters, four padas. We are in d in the first quarter, the segment of the
period of time blessed by Buddha avatara.
Kalpa is one cycle. We have karma since kalpa after kalpa after kalpa. In every kalpa
even if you have one human birth you have limitless karma. Atma is eternal,
this jiva also is as though eternal. Jiva is atma, therefore eternal. Being centred
on atma is eternal. If you understand it
is eternal, if you don’t understand it is eternal. So the jiva who has been
around from beginingless time has enough karma to assume any body. So when you
take a given body like a human body, it is not one karma. Means what you
experience now. It is a group of karmas. Therefore all these karmas, among
them, one is called sancita. What is waiting for expression.
Karma phala is definitely going to fructify. It has got a certainty, it
will definitely fructify. That is called sancita karma.
The group of karma that has fructified is prarabdha karma, the
fructification takes place in time; in time. In hundred years; in seventy
years; fifty years, in a span of life time fructification takes place. That
means the karma goes along with the span of life.
How is the span determined? By reckoning
your breathing. It is not a calendar. You breath in, breath out, the life span
time clock ticks. That is the count down. You have that much span of breaths,
and prarabdha unfolds in that span. So, tick. If you do pranayama,
tick……tick…….tick……..you can slow down. And if you dont care ….Tick.tick. tick.
Tick. Tick. Tick. That is calld udana, the time clock is called udana. The time
clock is the karma clock. Karma works in tandem with time, with praṇa. This is called prak arabdha karma, prakarshena arabdha karma, well begun karma.
Then we have karma called agami. In this life we pick certain karma
whose result cannot be fulfilled in this life.
They require a special body, a special time and place. May be a human
body, but at a special time and place. Or after leaving this body, assuming
another body should be in special time and place, with special parentage. All
the specifications for what is going to come in future. Agami is the name for
what is going to come in the future.
So these are the three-fold karma. These three fold karma is all within
the order of karma.
Nitya karma, naimittika karma, all within the order of karma. Vaidika
karma, in the order of karma. Karma order is huge. It is not easy. Sending a
satellite up to a rocket is all karma. But generally we don’t include them, but
anything that produces punya-papa, as well as laukika (worldly)karmas are included.
In fact laulika karmas produce punyam and papam.
So this order of karma is gahana,
too vast and too intervened with the karma of others. And therefore the
Gitāasays gahana karmano gatih, the ways of karma are too deep, too vast to unravel.
The order of dharma is not a different topic. In the Gita we repeat
every day the verse. “sarva dharman parityajya, mamekam sharanam vraja…..”. We repeat this at lunch time.
Parityajya means giving up; sarvadhaman means all dharmas; mamekam sharanam vraja, bhagavan says please surrender to me, take my refuge in me
alone. That means give up all dharmas and come. There dharma is karma.
You cannot do dharma. Can you do dharma?
You cannot do dharma. You can only do karma, which is dharma, which can
produce punyam and papam. That is also dharma. Therefore dharman parityajya Bhashyakara translates dharma as sarva karmani. Dharma becomes karma.
When we talk about order of dharma, it includes the order of karma and
itself as a matrix of values, motivating the person to do proper karma. And
those karmas are samanya and vishesha. Samanya
values, universal values, like ahimsa, universal
values. Based upon ahimsa there are
other derived values, they are also universal. I don’t hurt because I don’t
want to get hurt. Samanya. And from this universal value of ahimsa it follows :- I don’t want to be robbed; I don’t want to be cheated;
I don’t want to be in any way hurt. All the values are derivatives. In other
words I don’t want to get hurt in any manner and I know that others also don’t
want to get hurt.
This order of dharma is the order
of universal values. They are meant to guide one while doing karma. What is to
be done, what is not to be done. A life
of karma is guided by and based upon
dharma.
Then we have vishesa dharma. That
is also the order of dharma. What I have to do as a student. What I have to do
as a married man, house holder. The house holder is a funny translation of grihastha. House-holder, nice. But grihastha doesn’t say that. Grihastha also if
you translate is funny, -grihe tishtati the one who sits at home. She works, he sits at home, cooks. That is
grihastha. There is a root ‘ stha’ and the ‘stha’ doesn’t permit you to
move this way or that way. Then we have to go for the rudhi meaning. Vyutpati
here doesn’t work. So the one who makes the home, both the man and woman, they
make home. That is grihastha ashrama dharma.
What is to be done as a grihastha, what
is to be done as one prepares oneself for sannyasa, so vanaprastha, they are
all laid out. As the time changes, so this dharma ashrama, dharma also
undergoes change. These are all anitya rules.
In grammar you have anitya rules. They change themselves, they adapt
themselves to the time. The influence of other cultures brings about changes.
But the core basis for making these dharmas, that doesn’t change. Playing as a role, as a son; as father; as mother;
as husband; as wife, these are all roles one has to play in life. And every
role has a script and the script is dharma. It is called vishesha dharmas. They are endless … All
under the order of dharma which we all sense.
The human beings have to conform to this order, samanya dharma and vishesha dharma. This conforming is in terms of karma always.
Thus the order of karma, the order
of dharma is important. They are Ishvara. When you live in harmony with this
dharma order, you are in harmony with Ishvara.
...adapted from Talks at AVG Annikatti 2015