Chapter 6: Law of Karma

The word karma literally means 'deed or action,' but implies the entire cycle of cause and its effects. According to the Law of Karma, every human action-in thought, word, or deed-inevitably leads to results, good or bad, depending upon the moral quality of the action. There is no such thing as action without results. "As we sow, so shall we reap," is the unerring law which governs all deeds. The Law of Karma conserves the moral consequences of all actions, and conditions our future lives accordingly. We ourselves create our future destinies by our own choices each minute. Every child born in this world is born to work out its own past deeds.

The doctrine of karma is the answer provided by Hindus to the questions of why suffering and inequalities exist in the world: "Why should one person be different from another in his looks, abilities, and character? Why is one born a king and another a beggar? A just and merciful God cannot create such inequalities." The doctrine of karma, a law of actions and their retribution, can be viewed as the law of causation (cause and effect) applied to the moral realm. The law that every action has a reaction works in the scientific world as well as in the moral world.

The doctrine of karma is based upon the principle of cause and effect. This doctrine of cause and effect differs from the Christian notion that God punishes the wicked and rewards the virtuous. The underlying basis for this difference is that Hindu religion is a god-loving religion rather than a god-fearing one.

Karma is neither predestination nor fatalism. Fatalism and predestination imply that individuals are bound by circumstances or by some outside power and, as such, cannot free themselves with their own effort. That is exactly opposite of karma. The Law of Karma is actually the law of harmony and equilibrium. It adjusts wisely, intelligently and equitably each effect to its cause. But, it is also the law of opportunity, which allows an individual to change his past for a better future. If we understand karma as the law of order and opportunity, we will become self-reliant and understand that we cannot and should not escape responsibility.

Operation of the Law of Karma

The past karma of an individual consists of two parts, prãrabdha karma and sañchita karma (see Figure 2). Prãrabdha karma is the part of one's past karma which is to bear fruit in the present life of the individual. Sañchita karma is accumulated karma of the previous births which is to bear fruit in the future. Prãrabdha karma of an individual consists of two components: fixed and variable. The fixed component of karma is beyond our control and consists of that component of the past karma which determines one's parents, the family and the country in which a child must be born, the general features of the physical body that the child will eventually develop, and the social and religious environment in which the child must grow.

The variable component of the past karma remains latent in the subconscious mind of the child in the form of samskãras (natural habits and tendencies). It is this variable part of the past karma that one can overcome by initiative and free will. The level of success one can achieve in diluting the effects of the variable component, however, depends upon the power of the samskãras and the strength of the individual will.

The past karma of an ordinary human being is either good, bad, or mixed. An individual's particular incarnation is determined by the overall balance of past karma. If the overall balance is positive (i.e. overall good karma), the individual will be born in an environment that would be naturally conducive toward the onward progress of his soul. In a particular incarnation, only those innate tendencies (samskãras) are manifested for which conditions are favorable in that incarnation. The right environment is essential for manifestation of the samskãras. For example, if an individual is born as a professor (because of his overall good karma) and if he had been a gambler in his past incarnations, his innate gambling tendency will not find the right environment to manifest itself in the academic environment of his vocation. However, if he happens to be in the company of gamblers at a weekend party, he will exhibit a natural love for gambling because of the residual impressions of his past karma.

Every human action, be it physical or mental, produces two effects. First, depending upon the moral quality of an action, the appropriate fruits of the action will be rewarded later, either in the same life or in a future life. Secondly, the action leaves residual impressions (samskãras) on the subconscious mind of the individual. These samskãras generate thought waves (vrittis) and thereby determine the character of the individual. Thus, actions determine the personal conduct and this conduct molds the character, in a revolving chain of cause and effect. The Brihadãranyaka Upanishad declares thus: "A man becomes good by performing good deeds and evil by performing evil deeds."

Free Will

In the Hindu view, ãtman (soul, self or sprit) is the source of the human will. Since ãtman is divine and immortal, the human will is potentially powerful. However, due to the presence of the cosmic ignorance (mãyã or avidyã), human will is generally weak and the individual lacks firm conviction and God-consciousness. Human will can be sharpened and strengthened by yoga, meditation, prayers, positive thinking, right environment, and association (satsangh) with the pure-minded persons. According to the philosophy of yoga, the negative thought waves which arise in the human mind due to samskãras of the past karma, can be neutralized by introducing positive thought waves generated by human will.

When an apple falls from a tree, the fall of the apple itself is caused by the law of gravitation. However, the consequences of this event are not only determined by the law of gravitation, but also by the law of conservation of energy. Just the same way, the consequences of human actions are determined by the doctrine of karma as well as the doctrine of free will. The negative samskãras of the past karma can be overcome by human will. In Hindu view, what separates a saint and a sinner is only time. With right knowledge and effort, a sinner of today can be a saint of tomorrow. As Dr. Rãdhãkrishnan says, "The cards of life are given to us [in the form of samskãras], but we can play them as we wish, and win or lose, as we play."

The Role of Parents and Teachers

When one commits a murder, two possibilities exist. Either the person is creating a brand new karma (agami karma) by misusing his free will, or his action is motivated by the negative samskãras of his past actions. In either case he is totally responsible for his actions. He could have been helped if his free will had been strengthened by yoga, meditation, prayers, positive thinking, and right environment. This responsibility squarely falls on the society in general, and parents and teachers in particular. The best time (and perhaps the only time!) to implant good samskãras in a person is when the person is still young and his negative samskãras are not yet ready to bear their bitter fruit. The children in modern societies are constantly subjected to negative samskãras of violence perpetuated by radio and television, family conflicts, and lack of appropriate training of parents to properly raise their children.

Unfortunately, in modern societies more attention is given to development of the body than the mind. The educational institutions generally teach skills that enable one to make a descent living to maintain one's physical body, but no skills are generally taught to nourish one's mind. Just as soap and shampoo clean the physical body, yoga and meditation clean the mind by removing mental impurities, such as fear, anger, lust, greed, jealousy, and conceit. Yoga and meditation also strengthen the mind by increasing its willpower. A strong mind is a virtuous mind and without virtue there can be no happiness in this world. "One may gain political and social independence, but if he is a slave to his passions and desires, he cannot feel the pure joy of freedom," says Swãmî Vivekãnanda.³⁰