HARMONY BY ACTION - SWAMI TATWANANDA

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Karma - Action and it's Nuances - 1 (to be continued)

 

>From time immemorial, man with his sense of "I and mine" has been probing the

creation. His probe was not so much as to understand the cause for the

creation but more to identify the nature and behavior of the created and make

use of it for the fulfillment of his many needs and demands. His

identification with the body, senses and mind (psychophysical complex) made

man attached, dependent and interested in maintaining the well being of his

belongings and possessions. For this purpose man takes to various activities,

in the world of diverse objects, to acquire and secure what is pleasurable

and avoid or remove all that is disagreeable for the body, senses and mind.

 

We find the underlying motivation behind all actions is a self-promoting

impulse, which is called desire. The desire prompted activities for joy at

physical and mental realms are termed as 'karma" - a designed effort. As

such, karma is considered as a means for fulfillment. This is the general

concept of karma in our Hindu scriptures. When a series of karma undertaken

for satisfaction fail to give the expected result, the impelling force in the

mind, compels to repeat the efforts. However, when one meets with repeated

failure, one is prompted to inquire into the factors that led to the

ineffectiveness of the adopted means. We observe that the reason may be due

to one of the following factors:

(1) Inadequate means (adhyatmikam), (2) inappropriate conditions of time,

place, people, etc. - the external conditions (adhibhoudikam). (3) Unknown

active forces in the universe of which he is a unit, but having no command

over these forces (adhidaivikam). One has control over the adhyatmikam but

not of the other two factors.

 

 

Worldly Actions - Laukika Karma In worldly life, action is instrumental for

our success and failure. When the reason for failure is the inadequacy of the

adopted means, the mode of action has to be reviewed with discrimination.

Correcting the lapses, the effort should be repeated with a positive and

cheerful frame of mind, which is free from mental anxiety. Mental equipoise

is a contributive factor to gain perfection in action. When skilled and

proven means fail to fulfill the expectations, man is advised to seek help by

Vedic karma (rituals), which are believed to ward off the unfavourable

aspects of adhiboudhikam and adhyatmikam. Here, the word karma is limited

only to the means advocated in the Vedas(to be contd.).

 

(Excerpted from Swamiji's talks on Karma Yoga-published as Harmony by

Action-1989)