The word Karma means action or deed. An action necessarily also includes its reaction. It is a physical law, that whenever an action is done, it is followed by a reaction. For people, this means that whatever action one does, a reaction will follow. If one plants a good seed, the resulting fruit will be good. If somebody performs a bad deed, an unwanted weed or bad reaction will come.
The law of karma explains very easily for example why somebody becomes ill. An action must have been made in the past that has caused the illness to manifest now. “Prarabdha karma” is the karma or reaction that is visible now because of a seed or action that was made sometime before. A point in Nada Bindu Upanishad mentions , “O intelligent man, spend your life always in the knowing of the supreme bliss, enjoying the whole of your Prarabdha (that portion of past Karma now being enjoyed) without making any complaint (of it).” i.e. As a man himself sows, so he himself reaps; no man inherits the good or evil act of another man. The fruit is of the same quality as the action.
This Shloka has been mentioned in Gita:
vāsānsi jīrnāni yathā vihāya navāni grihnāti naroaparāni.
tathā śarīrāni vihāya jīrnānyanyāni
sanyāti navāni dehī.
i.e. during our daily lives we change our old and/or dirty clothes and put on new and/or clean clothes whenever the need arises. Similarly, the soul casts off its worn out physical body and takes residence in a newer physical body at regular intervals in time. Just like the clothes that we wear do not represent the real state of our physical body, the state of our physical body (which deteriorates over time and is hence impermanent) doesn’t represent the truly unchangeable and permanent nature of the soul that resides within it.
In an another verse, it is mentioned that
avyaktoayamacintyoayama-vikāryoayamuchyate.
tasmadevam viditvainam nānuśochitumaharsi.
i.e. he soul can’t be known or understood by purely using the brain and its mental powers. Hence it is known as indescribable – that which defies description. It cannot be known purely by meditating or thinking upon it (‘chintan’) – hence it is known as ‘achintya’. Only those entities that can be perceived by our five senses can be understood by ‘chintan’.
Since the atman can’t be described by any elements known to man, it is without shape or ‘vikaar’ and is known as ‘avikaari’ or immutable. It is beyond the range of form or thought and the changes that affect the mind, life and body do not touch him. Forms may change; things may come and go but that which remains behind them all is for ever.
The body dies, assert the Hindu traditions, but not the soul, which they assume to be the eternal reality, indestructible and bliss. Everything and all existence is believed to be connected and cyclical in Hinduism, all living beings composed of two things, the soul and the body or matter.
Soul does not change and cannot change by its innate nature in the Hindu belief. In contrast, the body and personality, can change, constantly changes, is born and dies. Current karma impacts the future circumstances in this life, as well as the future forms and realms of lives. Good intent and actions lead to good future, bad intent and actions lead to bad future, impacting how one reincarnates, in the Hindu view of existence.
The self or soul repeatedly takes on a physical body, until nirvana is attained.
There is no permanent heaven or hell. In the afterlife, based on one’s karma, the soul is reborn as another being in heaven, hell or a living being on earth (human, animal). Gods too die once their past karmic merit runs out, as do those in hell and they return getting another chance on earth. This reincarnation continues, endlessly in cycles, until one embarks on a spiritual pursuit, realizes self-knowledge, and thereby gains nirvana, the final release out of the reincarnation cycles.
A Sanyasi, in the strictest sense of the term, is always a free soul. Like a river, he is always on the move. Sometimes he spends the night at a river’s bank, sometimes he sleeps in the palace of the king, sometimes he rests at a railway station but he is always happy. Such a Sanyasi was Swami Vivekananda whom people found living at a railway station in Rajasthan. People kept coming to him all day long. They had many questions, mostly religious, and Swami Ji was tireless in answering them.
Three days and three nights passed in this manner. Swami Ji was so engrossed in talking about spiritual matters that he did not even stop to eat. The people who flocked to him also did not think of asking him if he had any food to eat!
On the third night of his stay there, when the visitors had all left, a poor man came forward and said to him lovingly, `Swami Ji, I have noticed that for three days you have been talking and talking. You have not taken even a drop of water! This has pained me very much.’ Daridra Narayan is a term stated by the Swami Ji himself, saying that service to the poor is equivalent to service to God. Swami Ji always saw God in poor people as Daridra Narayan, he felt that God had appeared before him in the form of this poor man.
He looked at him and said, “Will you please give me something to eat?’ The man was a cobbler by profession, so he said with some hesitation, `Swami Ji, my heart wants to give you some chapattis, but how can I? I have touched it. If you permit, I will bring you some coarse flour and dal and you can prepare them as you please!’
Swami Ji smiled and said, `No, my child; give me the bread you have baked. I shall be happy to eat it.’ The poor man was frightened at first. He feared the few people might punish him if they came to know that he, a low caste person, had prepared food for a Sanyasi. But the eagerness to serve a Sage overpowered his fear. He hurriedly went back home and soon returned with bread freshly baked for Swami Ji. The kindness and unselfish love of this penurious man brought tears to Swami Ji’s eyes. How many persons like this live in the huts of our country unnoticed, he thought. They are materially poor and of so-called humble origin, yet they are so noble and large-hearted.
In the meantime, some men found that Swami Ji was eating food offered by a shoemaker and were annoyed. They came to Swami Ji and told him that it was improper for him to accept food from a man of low caste. Swami Ji patiently heard them and then said, `You people made me talk without respite for the past three days, but you did not even care to inquire if I had taken any food and rest. You claim you are gentlemen and boast of your high caste; what is more shameful, you condemn this man for being of a low caste. Can you overlook the humanity he has just shown and despise him without feeling ashamed?’
If we look carefully, we can find all these traits in great souls. They don’t differentiate between living beings, serve the poor and needy, feel blessed to make other happy. This is the intent behind obtaining this human form and we all must put our best efforts to attain such divine stage in life. We as human beings are tamed by our karmas. It is our karma which either makes us successful and happy in life or makes us deprived of all sorts of pleasures and happiness in life.
We have full control over our deeds in this life. We can try and avoid doing anything wrong in this life. However, what we did in our earlier lives, can’t be avoided. If we are born rich, have a loving and caring family, are healthy; than it nothing but our good karmas which has manifested in such good fortunes. On the other hand, if we were born in a poor family, are facing any disease or are deprived of anything in life, than it is nothing else but our wrong karmas which are manifested in this form.
It is our good fortune that we have the blessings of a SadGuruDev in our lives. The word “Dev” in Hindi means one who can grants or one who fulfills our wishes. Due to this all the Gods and Goddess are termed as “Dev” and “Devi” as per Hindu religion as they can fulfill our desires. However, our ancient texts have also mentioned the Guru as a God and not only a God but as “SadGuruDev”, which means a great personality who is way greater than Gods and whose blessings are more fortunate than that of the Gods.
SadGuruDev will be granting Karma Dosh Nivaran Diksha on the very first day of this New Year; a Diksha which can neutralize our wrong acts and grant us fulfillment in life. Attaining such a Diksha will ensure we get relief from our bad karmas and our good karmas get manifested too. Attaining such a divine Diksha in the very first month of the year will ensure we getting transformed into a better human being, whose life is free from troubles and all the good acts done by us gets manifested soon. Sure this is a great boon from SadGurudev at the very beginning of the year.
It is mandatory to obtain Guru Diksha from Revered Gurudev before performing any Sadhana or taking any other Diksha. Please contact Kailash Siddhashram, Jodhpur through Email , Whatsapp, Phone or Submit Request to obtain consecrated-energized and mantra-sanctified Sadhana material and further guidance,
