Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Story 47 – Story of Destroying Indra’s pride – 04
In order to anger Indra, Krishna started speaking thus to his father:
Karma is the cause of birth. Karma is the cause of death. Karma is the cause of happiness, sorrow, fear, pain etc. Now even if there is a particular Lord who gives the fruits of actions, he can give the fruits for actions only after taking into consideration the actions. Without taking into consideration the doer the Lord cannot give the fruits for any actions.
Explanation
Lord says in Gita thus:
Ye yathaa maam prapadhyanthe taamstathaiva bhajaami aham
Whoever worships me in whatever form, I appear to them in that form.
The law of karma is based indirectly on the above statement of the Lord. Whoever does actions, he reaps the fruits of his actions. If I eat, my hunger will get satisfied. If I work, I will get salary. If I eat a pill to remove headache, my headache will be removed. It is not possible that I do some action and somebody else reaps the rewards of the action. This is also same as telling that if I just surrender to the Lord, my hunger will get removed by the Lord eating. Therefore the sole duty of an individual is to do actions and he will get the fruits of the action that he has performed. The ultimate reality of Lord is only a judge in judging our actions and giving the fruits that we desire. The Lord cannot take matters into his hands which would make him a partial judge. If the Lord was able to take matters into his hands thereby giving good results for people who like him and bad results for those who hate him, then we wouldn’t even have place for Kamsa or the current day Osama Bin Laden. The very presence of these people who don’t believe in the Lord and perform actions contrary to the scriptures itself shows that the Lord cannot take matters into his hands. He is just an impartial judge giving fruits to actions performed by people. As are the actions, so the fruits that a person will get.
If this is the law of karma, then there is no real necessity of offering things to various Gods like Indra. Though the Lord is trying to provoke Indra yet what he is saying is perfectly true. The law of karma cannot be changed even by the Lord. It is for this reason that the Lord himself couldn’t stay eternally in this world thereby getting rid of his mortal coil.
If this is the case, then what is the use of surrendering to the Lord and offering all actions to the Lord?
As long as the doer is there, the enjoyer also will be there. As long as a person does an action, he will have to enjoy the fruits of his action. All actions are seeking one or the other worldly object. Worldly objects can give nothing but sorrow alone in the long run. Thus as long as the doer exists, the sufferer also will exist. But when a person surrenders to the Lord thereby offering all actions unto the Lord, he ceases to the doer. Since he is not a doer of the actions, therefore he doesn’t enjoy the fruits of the action. Even as a viewer of a particular cinema (film) doesn’t get affected by the situations in the film (as he is a mere witness and not doer of the actions in the film), similarly when a seeker ceases to be the doer of actions he is a mere witness to all actions. Even as the witness of the film is ever blissful (as he is unaffected by the film), similarly the witness of all actions will be ever blissful. Thus through surrendering to the Lord and offering all actions unto the Lord, a person becomes blissful. It is this bliss that we all seek but in the illusory world filled with sorrowful objects. The moment we offer our actions to the Lord we will be ever blissful rejoicing in the bliss of the Self (which is one with the ultimate reality of Lord).
This way of renouncing the doer thereby being a mere witness to all activities is the real Karma Marga wherein there is no kartha (doer) and no bhoktha (enjoyer). Thus through selfless actions (nishkaama karma), the seeker enters into the state of naishkarmyam (action-lessness). The state of naishkarmyam is not different from the state of jnaana wherein a seeker is ever established in the blissful atman thereby ever rejoicing in the bliss.
We will continue with the story in the next day.
Let us all cease to be the doer of actions so that we are a mere witness to all activities thereby ever rejoicing in bliss which is our very nature of the ultimate reality of Lord.
Krishna continued:
What man does according to his nature cannot be changed by Indra. Man is a slave of his own nature (addictions or vasanas). Depending on the actions performed a person gets a higher or lower body. Friend, foe etc. are attained due to one’s actions.
Explanation
Gita proclaims thus in the Karma Yoga chapter:
Na hi kaschit kshanamapi jaathu thistathi akarmakrit
Kaaryathe hi avashah karma sarvah prakrithairgunaih
Not even for a single second can a person remain without doing actions. All people are bound into doing actions as they cannot be without it. And people do actions depending on their nature.
We generally think that sanyaasins are people who are not doing any actions. But we know that most of the sanyaasins including the Sankaracharyas do actions for the welfare of the world. This shows that no person can live in the world without doing actions. Everybody does actions depending on their inner latent tendencies. We cannot be without doing actions and hence we should try to change our nature by introducing good karmas like dhyaana, japa, keerthana etc. These activities along with the attitude of surrender to the ultimate reality of Lord will help us overcome the bondage of action. If there is no attitude of surrender and offering the actions to the Lord, the person will be bound by the actions. A person does an action and reaps the fruit of the action. He does the action again and again thereby making it a vasana or habit. When vasanas are cultivated the person cannot be without doing the action. This is what is popularly known as addictions. We know only of addictions of tea, coffee, alcohol, smoking etc. but most of the actions that we do are addictions based on our inner tendencies. Our inner tendencies are those born out of doing the same action over and over again. There are people who are addicted to japa and dhyaana. If we talk to people who are used to doing dhyaana, they cannot be without doing dhyaana. If one day they don’t do dhyaana then it is as if their mind is not peaceful and they are sad throughout the day. This is how most of the followers of Art of Living feel if they aren’t able to do sudharshana kriya. Same is the case with many other spiritual activities. Those spiritual activities are meant to remove the bondage towards actions by offering them to the Lord, they themselves become bondage. Thus a seeker should always remember that all actions whether they are good or bad should be offered to the ultimate reality off Lord along with total and complete surrender to the Lord. This is the one and only way to get rid of the bondage of actions.
Irrespective of whether a person is a jnaani or an ajnaani, he is bound by actions depending on his nature. Even as an ajnaani is addicted to seeing movies, a jnaani is addicted to sravana-manana-nidhidhyaasana. The only difference between the jnaani and the ajnaani is that the ajnaani is completely bound by the action whereas the jnaani is a mere witness to the bondages of his mind and Ego. The jnaani is never affected by the actions as he is ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. If there is no sravana, yet the jnaani will be blissful though he may show externally that he is affected by it. On the contrary an ajnaani will become angry if he is not able to watch movie because of power-cut of any other reason. Thus the Lord through this beautiful definition of action that all people are bound by actions and we have no choice but to do actions is clearly pointing out that a person who surrenders and offers all actions to the Lord alone will be blissful irrespective of his situation and vasanas.
We will continue in the next day.
Let us all accept that we cannot be without doing actions and thereby offer all actions unto the Lord so that we are a mere witness blissfully watching all the actions performed by the mind, intellect, ego and sense organs.
Karma is the cause of birth. Karma is the cause of death. Karma is the cause of happiness, sorrow, fear, pain etc. Now even if there is a particular Lord who gives the fruits of actions, he can give the fruits for actions only after taking into consideration the actions. Without taking into consideration the doer the Lord cannot give the fruits for any actions.
Explanation
Lord says in Gita thus:
Ye yathaa maam prapadhyanthe taamstathaiva bhajaami aham
Whoever worships me in whatever form, I appear to them in that form.
The law of karma is based indirectly on the above statement of the Lord. Whoever does actions, he reaps the fruits of his actions. If I eat, my hunger will get satisfied. If I work, I will get salary. If I eat a pill to remove headache, my headache will be removed. It is not possible that I do some action and somebody else reaps the rewards of the action. This is also same as telling that if I just surrender to the Lord, my hunger will get removed by the Lord eating. Therefore the sole duty of an individual is to do actions and he will get the fruits of the action that he has performed. The ultimate reality of Lord is only a judge in judging our actions and giving the fruits that we desire. The Lord cannot take matters into his hands which would make him a partial judge. If the Lord was able to take matters into his hands thereby giving good results for people who like him and bad results for those who hate him, then we wouldn’t even have place for Kamsa or the current day Osama Bin Laden. The very presence of these people who don’t believe in the Lord and perform actions contrary to the scriptures itself shows that the Lord cannot take matters into his hands. He is just an impartial judge giving fruits to actions performed by people. As are the actions, so the fruits that a person will get.
If this is the law of karma, then there is no real necessity of offering things to various Gods like Indra. Though the Lord is trying to provoke Indra yet what he is saying is perfectly true. The law of karma cannot be changed even by the Lord. It is for this reason that the Lord himself couldn’t stay eternally in this world thereby getting rid of his mortal coil.
If this is the case, then what is the use of surrendering to the Lord and offering all actions to the Lord?
As long as the doer is there, the enjoyer also will be there. As long as a person does an action, he will have to enjoy the fruits of his action. All actions are seeking one or the other worldly object. Worldly objects can give nothing but sorrow alone in the long run. Thus as long as the doer exists, the sufferer also will exist. But when a person surrenders to the Lord thereby offering all actions unto the Lord, he ceases to the doer. Since he is not a doer of the actions, therefore he doesn’t enjoy the fruits of the action. Even as a viewer of a particular cinema (film) doesn’t get affected by the situations in the film (as he is a mere witness and not doer of the actions in the film), similarly when a seeker ceases to be the doer of actions he is a mere witness to all actions. Even as the witness of the film is ever blissful (as he is unaffected by the film), similarly the witness of all actions will be ever blissful. Thus through surrendering to the Lord and offering all actions unto the Lord, a person becomes blissful. It is this bliss that we all seek but in the illusory world filled with sorrowful objects. The moment we offer our actions to the Lord we will be ever blissful rejoicing in the bliss of the Self (which is one with the ultimate reality of Lord).
This way of renouncing the doer thereby being a mere witness to all activities is the real Karma Marga wherein there is no kartha (doer) and no bhoktha (enjoyer). Thus through selfless actions (nishkaama karma), the seeker enters into the state of naishkarmyam (action-lessness). The state of naishkarmyam is not different from the state of jnaana wherein a seeker is ever established in the blissful atman thereby ever rejoicing in the bliss.
We will continue with the story in the next day.
Let us all cease to be the doer of actions so that we are a mere witness to all activities thereby ever rejoicing in bliss which is our very nature of the ultimate reality of Lord.
Krishna continued:
What man does according to his nature cannot be changed by Indra. Man is a slave of his own nature (addictions or vasanas). Depending on the actions performed a person gets a higher or lower body. Friend, foe etc. are attained due to one’s actions.
Explanation
Gita proclaims thus in the Karma Yoga chapter:
Na hi kaschit kshanamapi jaathu thistathi akarmakrit
Kaaryathe hi avashah karma sarvah prakrithairgunaih
Not even for a single second can a person remain without doing actions. All people are bound into doing actions as they cannot be without it. And people do actions depending on their nature.
We generally think that sanyaasins are people who are not doing any actions. But we know that most of the sanyaasins including the Sankaracharyas do actions for the welfare of the world. This shows that no person can live in the world without doing actions. Everybody does actions depending on their inner latent tendencies. We cannot be without doing actions and hence we should try to change our nature by introducing good karmas like dhyaana, japa, keerthana etc. These activities along with the attitude of surrender to the ultimate reality of Lord will help us overcome the bondage of action. If there is no attitude of surrender and offering the actions to the Lord, the person will be bound by the actions. A person does an action and reaps the fruit of the action. He does the action again and again thereby making it a vasana or habit. When vasanas are cultivated the person cannot be without doing the action. This is what is popularly known as addictions. We know only of addictions of tea, coffee, alcohol, smoking etc. but most of the actions that we do are addictions based on our inner tendencies. Our inner tendencies are those born out of doing the same action over and over again. There are people who are addicted to japa and dhyaana. If we talk to people who are used to doing dhyaana, they cannot be without doing dhyaana. If one day they don’t do dhyaana then it is as if their mind is not peaceful and they are sad throughout the day. This is how most of the followers of Art of Living feel if they aren’t able to do sudharshana kriya. Same is the case with many other spiritual activities. Those spiritual activities are meant to remove the bondage towards actions by offering them to the Lord, they themselves become bondage. Thus a seeker should always remember that all actions whether they are good or bad should be offered to the ultimate reality off Lord along with total and complete surrender to the Lord. This is the one and only way to get rid of the bondage of actions.
Irrespective of whether a person is a jnaani or an ajnaani, he is bound by actions depending on his nature. Even as an ajnaani is addicted to seeing movies, a jnaani is addicted to sravana-manana-nidhidhyaasana. The only difference between the jnaani and the ajnaani is that the ajnaani is completely bound by the action whereas the jnaani is a mere witness to the bondages of his mind and Ego. The jnaani is never affected by the actions as he is ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. If there is no sravana, yet the jnaani will be blissful though he may show externally that he is affected by it. On the contrary an ajnaani will become angry if he is not able to watch movie because of power-cut of any other reason. Thus the Lord through this beautiful definition of action that all people are bound by actions and we have no choice but to do actions is clearly pointing out that a person who surrenders and offers all actions to the Lord alone will be blissful irrespective of his situation and vasanas.
We will continue in the next day.
Let us all accept that we cannot be without doing actions and thereby offer all actions unto the Lord so that we are a mere witness blissfully watching all the actions performed by the mind, intellect, ego and sense organs.
# posted by vedanta : 4:51 AM
