Karma and Destiny

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The theory of Karma is common to many oriental religions. In its most popular

form it states that there is a universal accounting system in which each

individual must experience the consequences of all his actions (Karmas); good

actions bring good results and bad actions inevitably result in suffering to the

one who does them. The theory also states that the consequences of actions (also

known as Karmas) need not necessarily be experienced in the present life, they

can be carried over into future lives. Because of this, several sub-divisions of

Karma have been postulated. The following classification, which was used by Sri

Ramana Maharshi, is common to many Hindu schools of thought.

 

Sanchita Karma. The store of Karmic debts accumulated from previous births.

 

Prarabdha Karma. That part of one's Sanchita Karma which must be worked out in

the present life. Because the law of Karma implies determinism in human

activities, Prarabdha is often translated as destiny.

 

Agami Karma. New Karma accumulated in the present lifetime which is carried

forward into future lives.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi accepted the validity of the laws of Karma but said that

they were only applicable as long as a person imagined that he was separate from

the Self. At this level (the level of the ajnani or the ignorant), he said that

individuals will pass through a series of pre-ordained activities and

experiences, all of which are the consequences of previous acts and thoughts. He

occasionally even said that every act and experience in a person's life is

determined at birth and that the only freedom one has is to realise that there

is no one acting and no one experiencing. However, once one realises the Self

there is no one left to experience the consequences of actions and so the whole

structure of Karmic laws then becomes redundant.

 

Sri Ramana regarded the law of Karma as a manifestation of God's will. He said

that prior to Self-realisation there is a personal God, Iswara, who controls

each person's destiny. It is Iswara who has ordained that everyone must suffer

the consequences of his actions and it is Iswara who selects the sequences of

activities that each person must undergo in each lifetime. One cannot escape

from Iswara's jurisdiction while one still identifies with the activities of the

body. The only way to become free of his authority is to transcend Karma

completely by realising the Self.

 

Question: Is it posssible to overcome, even while the body exists, the Prarabdha

Karma which is said to last till the end of the body?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Yes. If the agent, upon whom the Karma depends, namely the

ego, which has come into existence between the body and the Self, merges in its

source and loses its form, how can the Karma, which depends upon it, survive?

When there is no self there is no Karma.

 

Question: It is said that Prarabdha Karma is only a small fraction of the Karma

accumulated from previous lives. Is this true?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: A man might have performed many Karmas in his previous

births. A few of these alone will be chosen for this birth and he will have to

enjoy their fruits in this birth. It is something like a slide show where the

projectionist picks a few slides to be exhibited at a performance; the remaining

slides being reserved for another performance. All this Karma can be destroyed

by acquiring knowledge of the Self. The different Karmas are the slides, Karmas

being the result of past experiences, and the mind is the projector. The

projector must be destroyed so that there will be no further reflection and no

further births and no deaths.

 

Question: Who is the projectionist? What is the mechanism, which selects a small

portion of the Sanchita Karma and then decides that it shall be experienced as

Prarabdha Karma?

 

Sri Ramana Mahrshi: Individuals have to suffer their Karmas but Iswara manages

to make the best of their Karmas for his purpose. God manipulates the fruits of

Karma but he does not add or take away from it. The subconscious of man is a

warehouse of good and bad Karma. Iswara chooses from this warehouse what he sees

will best suit the spiritual evolution at the time of each man, whether pleasant

or painful. Thus there is nothing arbitrary.

 

Question: In 'Upadesa Saram', you say that Karma bears fruit by the ordinance of

God (Karta). Does this mean that we reap the consequences of Karma solely

because God wills it?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: In this verse Karta (God) means Iswara. He is the one who

distributes the fruits of actions to each person according to his Karma. That

means that he is the manifest Brahman. The real Brahman is unmanifest and

without motion. It is only the manifest Brahman that is named as Iswara. He

gives the fruit to each person according to his actions (Karma). That means that

Iswara is only an agent and that he gives wages according to the labour done.

That is all. Without this Sakti (power) of Iswara, this Karma would not take

place. That is why Karma is said to be on its own, inert.

 

Questioner: The present experiences are the result of past Karma. If we know the

mistakes committed before, we can rectify them.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: If one mistake is rectified there yet remains the whole

Sanchita Karma from former births which is going to give you innumerable births.

So that is not the procedure. The more you prune a plant, the more vigorously it

grows. The more you rectify your Karma, the more it accumulates. Find the root

of Karma and cut it off.

 

Question: Does the Karma theory mean that the world is the result of action and

reaction? If so, action and reaction of what?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Until realisation there will be Karma, that is action and

reaction. After realisation there will be no Karma and no world.

 

Question: If I am not the body why am I responsible for the consequences of my

good and bad actions?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: If you are not the body and do not have the idea 'I am the

doer', the consequences of your good or bad actions will not affect you. Why do

you say about the actions the body performs 'I do this' or 'I did that'? As long

as you identify yourself with the body like that you are affected by the

consequences of the actions, that is to say, while you identify with the body

you accumulate good and bad Karma.

 

Questioner: But since I am not the body I am not really responsible for the

consequences of good or bad actions.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: If you are not, why do you bother about the question?

 

Questioner: In some places it is stated that human effort is the source of all

strength and that it can even transcend Karma. In others it is said that it is

all divine grace. It is not clear which of them is correct.

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Yes, some schools of philosophy say that there is no God

other than Karma of the previous birth, that is Karma done in the present birth

in accordance with the scriptures is known as Purushkara (human effort), that

the previous and present Karmas meet for a head-on fight like rams and that the

one that is weaker gets eliminated. That is why these people say that one should

strengthen Purushkara. If you ask such people what the origin of Karma is, they

say that such a question is not to be raised as it is like the eternal question,

'Which is earlier, the seed or the tree?'

 

Debates such as this are mere arguments, which can never arrive at the final

truth. That is why I say first find out who you are. If one asks, 'Who am I? How

did I get this Dosha (fault) of life?', the 'I' will subside and one will

realise the Self. If one does this properly the idea of Dosha will be eliminated

and peace will be obtained. Why even obtained? The Self remains as it is.

 

The essence of Karma is to know the truth of oneself by enquiring 'Who am I, the

doer, who begins to do Karmas?' Unless the doer of Karmas, the ego, is

annihilated through enquiry, the perfect peace of supreme bliss, which is the

result of Karma Yoga, cannot be achieved.

 

Question: Can people wipe out the consequences of their bad actions by doing

Mantras or Japa (repeating God's name) or will they necessarily have to

experience them?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: If the feeling 'I am doing Japa' is not there, the bad

actions committed by a man will not stick to him. If the feeling 'I am doing the

Japa' is there, the consequences of bad actions will persist.

 

Question: Does the Punya (merit accumulated from virtuous acts) extinguish Papa

(demerit accumulated from sinful acts)?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: So long as the feeling 'I am doing' is there, one must

experience the result of one's acts, whether they are good or bad. How is it

possible to wipe out one act with another? When the feeling that 'I am doing' is

lost, nothing affects a man. Unless one realises the Self, the feeling 'I am

doing' will never vanish. For one who realises the Self where is the need for

Japa? Where is the need for Tapas (austerity)? Owing to the force of Prarabdha

life goes on, but he who has realised the Self does not wish for anything.

 

Prarabdha Karma is of three categories, Ichha, Anichha and Parechha (personally

desired, without desire and due to others' desire). For the one who has realised

the Self, there is no Ichha-Prarabdha but the two others, Anichha and Parechha,

remain. Whatever a Jnani (Self-realised) does is for others only. If there are

things to be done by him for others, he does them but the results do not affect

him. Whatever be the actions that such people do, there is no Punya and no Papa

attached to them. But they do only what is proper according to the accepted

standard of the world - nothing else.

 

Those who know that what is to be experienced by them in this life is only what

is already destined in their Prarabdha will never feel perturbed about what is

to be experienced. Know that all one's experiences will be thrust upon one

whether one wills them or not.

 

Question: The realised man has no further Karma. He is not bound by his Karma.

Why should he still remain within his body?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Who asks this question? Is it the realised man or the

Ajnani (ignorant)? Why should you bother what the Jnani (Self-realised) does or

why he does anything? Look after yourself. You are now under the impression you

are the body and so you think that the Jnani also has a body. Does the Jnani say

he has a body? He may look to you as if he has a body and he may appear to be

doing things with the body, as others do, but he himself knows that he is

bodiless. The burnt rope still looks like a rope, but it can't serve as a rope

if you try to bind anything with it. A Jnani is like that - he may look like

other people, but this is only an outer appearance. So long as one identifies

oneself with the body, all this is difficult to understand.

 

That is why it is sometimes said in reply to such questions, 'The body of the

Jnani will continue till the force of Prarabdha works itself out, and after the

Prarabdha is exhausted it will drop off'. An illustration made use of in this

connection is that of an arrow already discharged which will continue to advance

and strike its target. But the truth is the Jnani has transcended all Karmas,

including the Prarabdha Karma, and he is not bound by the body or its Karmas.

 

Not even an iota of Prarabdha exists for those who uninterruptedly attend to

space of consciousness, which always shines as 'I am', which is not confined in

the vast physical space, and which pervades everywhere without limitations. Such

alone is the meaning of the ancient saying, 'There is no fate for those who

reach or experience the heavens'.

 

Question: If a thing comes to me without any planning or working for it and I

enjoy it, will there be no bad consequences from it?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: It is not so. Every act must have its consequences. If

anything comes your way by reason of Prarabdha, you can't help it. If you take

what comes, without any special attachment, and without any desire for more of

it or for a repetition of it, it will not harm you by leading to further births.

On the other hand, if you enjoy it with great attachment and naturally desire

for more of it, it is bound to lead to more and more births.

 

Question: According to the astrological science, predictions are made about

coming events taking into account the influence of the stars. Is that true?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: So long as you have the feeling of egotism all that is

true. When the egotism is destroyed, even if they appear to see they do not

really see.

 

Destiny is the result of past action. It concerns the body. Let the body act as

may suit it. Why are you concerned with it? Why do you pay attention to it?

Should anything happen, it happens as the result of one's past actions, of

divine will and of other factors.

 

Question: The present is said to be due to past Karma. Can we transcend the past

Karma by our free will now?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: See what the present is. If you do this you will understand

what is affected by or has a past or a future, what is ever-present and always

free and what remains unaffected by the past or future or by any past Karma.

 

Question: Is there such a thing as free will?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Whose will is it? So long as there is the sense of

doership, there is the sense of enjoyment and of individual will. But if this

sense is lost through the practice of Vichara (self-enquiry), the divine will

will act and guide the course of events. Fate is overcome by Jnana,

Self-knowledge, which is beyond will and fate.

 

Question: I can understand that the outstanding events in a man's life, such as

his country, nationality, family, career or profession, marriage, death, etc.,

are all predestined by his Karma, but can it be that all the details of his

life, down to the minutest, have already been determined? Now, for instance, I

put this fan that is in my hand down on the floor here. Can it be that it was

already decided that on such and such a day, at such and such an hour, I should

move the fan like this and put it down here?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Certainly. Whatever this body is to do and whatever

experiences it is to pass through was already decided when it came into

existence.

 

Question: What becomes then of man's freedom and responsibility for his actions?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: The only freedom man has is to strive for and acquire the

Jnana (knowledge) which will enable him not to identify himself with the body.

The body will go through the actions rendered inevitable by Prarabdha and a man

is free either to identify himself with the body and be attached to the fruits

of its actions or to be detached from it and be a mere witness of its

activities.

 

Question: So free will is a myth?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Free will holds the field in association with

individuality. As long as individuality lasts there is free will. All the

scriptures are based on this fact and they advise directing the free will in the

right channel.

 

Find out to whom free will or destiny matters. Find out where they come from,

and abide in their source. If you do this, both of them are transcended. That is

the only purpose of discussing these questions. To whom do these questions

arise? Find out and be at peace.

 

Question: If what is destined to happen will happen, is there any use in prayer

or effort or should we just remain idle?

 

Sri Ramana Maharshi: There are only two ways to conquer destiny or be

independent of it. One is to enquire for whom is this destiny and discover that

only the ego is bound by destiny and not the Self, and that the ego is

non-existent. The other way is to kill the ego by completely surrendering to the

Lord, by realising one's helplessness and saying all the time, - Not I but Thou,

O Lord', giving up all sense of " I " and " mine " and leaving it to the Lord to do

what He likes with you. Surrender can never be regarded as complete so long as

the devotee wants this or that from the Lord. True surrender is love of God for

the sake of love and nothing else, not even for the sake of liberation. In other

words, complete effacement of the ego is necessary to conquer destiny, whether

you achieve this effacement through self-enquiry or through Bhakti Marga (path

of devotion).

 

by Sri Ramana Maharshi Edited by David Godman