I am not a Vedic scholar who has mastered the Veda (Science of Knowledge), but a common man and think, like any other common man, I too have little understanding about life, living, destiny, etc.
Very often, when a good or bad thing happens to a person, we immediately say it is the result of his or her 'Karma'.
What is this ‘Karma’? It is Sanskrit word derived from its root ‘Kri’ of ‘Kriya’, which means ‘to do’ or “to make” or more simply, “an action”.
We also use a saying, “As you sow so you reap”, this can be a brief explanation to word Karma, which means you will get a suitable result for every action you do.
The deeper meaning of Karma, however, sowing reaping is not of one-time action; it is an infinite chain of the results from the actions that we had perceived and performed. Thus, every action that is done after perceiving, is being added to the store as our karma.
The way we have the result for every examination we give, so also, for every action of ours we will have to get some result and we have to accept it. These results are termed as Karma Phal or Karma vina.
Earlier days our grandparents would say our ‘lekha-jokha’, i.e., an account of our deeds, which is said to be kept by Chitragupta and we will continue to take birth in this earth till our account is completely squared off, say cleared off.
An action may be positive or negative and it will have to be balanced by a reward or a punishment, and to receive this result we need to take birth.
Earlier days our grandparents would say our ‘lekha-jokha’, i.e., an account of our deeds, which is said to be kept by Chitragupta and we will continue to take birth in this earth till our account is completely squared off, say cleared off.
An action may be positive or negative and it will have to be balanced by a reward or a punishment, and to receive this result we need to take birth.
If we understand the computer system, it can be easy to understand the concept of Karma. The mind temporary storage unit connected with senses, the input devices, getting all the data from the outer world. These data are processed by the brain and resulted in the information. This information trigger the mind, which in turn gets some emotion - liking or disliking that cause a desire in the deep conscious mind the permanent storage unit, the storage device through this the outputs. Now, when a person dies Shtoola Sarira is left here on the earth, the Soul in the Karana Sharira goes with the embedded Consciousness with all its records imprinted in it. Such infected Soul doesn't get entry to Ultimate Destination of the Paramatma and it is returned back to earth to format the storage unit - the consciousness.
Our body is like a computer system, it has hardware, i.e., our physical body, the sthoola sharira, the way the computer works on electric power so our physical body works on the vital power that we get through our Prana from the breath.
Next, comes our subtle body, the sukshma sharira. This is like software. The mind – is like a storage device that stores thoughts, emotion, and information, which are fed to it by the five input devices our body has, these are our sensory organs - managing these and outputs therefrom are like application software.
Then, like system software of a computer, which controls hardware parts – operating system (OS), drivers (programs run computer peripherals), tools, etc., and manage the memory, in our body, we have wisdom, intelligence.
Then, like system software of a computer, which controls hardware parts – operating system (OS), drivers (programs run computer peripherals), tools, etc., and manage the memory, in our body, we have wisdom, intelligence.
Many may not know that the computer is booted by an inbuilt chip called ROM, it has a program that runs the moment the computer is powered on. This then loads the Operating System (OS) and the application programs – make the computer function. We use the application software and start working with it, never understood it is the ROM which started all these games.
In the manner the instructions on ROM put the computer to function, so the soul that boots the body and put to act according to the instructions written on the soul.
These are the instructions written in all past life. So long there are instructions on the soul we will have to take birth after birth.
In the manner the instructions on ROM put the computer to function, so the soul that boots the body and put to act according to the instructions written on the soul.
These are the instructions written in all past life. So long there are instructions on the soul we will have to take birth after birth.
In this context, we can find what Adi Shankara has stated in the Bhaja Govindam. He said that our soul – the Atma, takes birth, dies and then again goes to the womb of the mother to take a birth: "Punarapi jananam punarapi maranam, punarapi Janani jathare Sayan; iha snasare bahu dustare krupaya paare pahi murare"
‘Born again, died again, again to had slumber in the mother’s womb! It is indeed hard to cross this boundless ocean of samsAra. Oh, Murari! please show Your mercy.
Karma is a concept of wisdom, based on the Ancient Vedas and Upanishads, which explains that the karma is a system by which a person gets peace and happiness that are derived from his or her past positive and good acts and suffer from the past negative or sinful acts.
Thus we create a chain of actions and reactions throughout our reincarnated our lives. So, in every life, our endeavor has to be to minimize these actions and reactions.
Thus we create a chain of actions and reactions throughout our reincarnated our lives. So, in every life, our endeavor has to be to minimize these actions and reactions.
For this, our scriptures say that actions done as duty without any attachment (raga), would not be considered the karma when it has not been created by good or bad action.
How to live in a detached way?
On this Maharishi Patanjali in 12 sutra of Yoga Sutra has said:
"abhyāsa-vairāgya-ābhyāṁ tan-nirodhaḥ".
This means the state of detachment can be attained only by practicing the Abhyasa, assiduousness and regular conscious practice and imperturbability vairagya, i.e., detachment.
Soul wants to be Happy All the Time, in a Blissful State.
