What is karma Karma Sutra
instant karma yoga

Query: What is Karma: Why do we need to be liberated from Karma? How can we justify the karma continuation in all your lives until Liberation?

Vijay Kumar:
Karma is that aspect of Spirituality in absence of which neither the body nor atman the soul within can survive. If we are to clean our house then the best way out is using a vacuum cleaner. Every vacuum cleaner may have different gadgets but the prime purpose of all is to assist in reaching the prime goal ... the prime objective ... the cleaning of the house.

In the realm of Spirituality ... every atman the soul within is but a Dhrishta (onlooker) ... it cannot function on its own ... every atman the soul within needs a body to accomplish its goal. and the body has to perform its Karma so that Atman within reaches its goal ... no human being can remain without performing its Karma ... if I don't want to work ... the hunger within the stomach will force me to work ... once we get married ... in all likelihood our chances of not working may not workout as the wife and the children would goad us again and again for inaction ... this would eventually lead us to performing our Karma.

Every atman the soul within manifests a body again and again until it regains its original pristine pure form ... all dross having being removed ... atman the soul within is free from the bondage of Life and Death ... it liberates forever from the cycle of life. It becomes free forever.

I distinctly remember when I was a student I used to get a new blazer every five years. How happy I felt the moment I was told that the time was due for the new blazer. At the time of the death of body ... Atman within is looking forward to getting the new coat ... a new Spiritual realm ... a new life! The goal of the life of the human body is not for the body ... the human being ... the fruits of the goal can only be enjoyed by our atman the soul within.

This cycle of manifestations (8.4 million in total) continue forever. It takes almost 96.4 million years before an atman the soul within gets liberated. It is soul the atman within, that has taken the body, and not vice versa ... the process keeps on repeating and no human being has any control over it whatsoever. Even God does not interfere. God created Karma to take care of the rest of the process. The residual Karma gets transferred from one life to another.

If my atman the soul within leaves the mortal frame in this life at number 39 on the cosmic scale then the next body Atman shall take shall correspond to number 39. One can never be born on number 42 ... theory of karma is binding on one and all. Even our atman the soul within is not free from the clutches of Karma. Every living being right from the stage of an amoeba (the first manifestation by our Atman) ... subsequently as a mosquito ... then a plant, an animal and finally evolving into a human being ... none can escape undergoing Karma. It is that essential ingredient which controls the destiny of every being.

Performing our own Karma is not a bondage ... we are not forced to do the Karma ... we can choose our life goal of our own making ... we can always indulge in matters of our liking ... as children sometimes the decision of the parents can be enforced upon us but it is for our better future they are doing so ... being immature we may not realize the absolute truth behind the decisions of our parents yet, no parent would ever desire ill will of their children.

Karma does not mean the physical action alone ... whatever we think and do ... the end result is the resultant Karma which governs our life. Even if we do not harm the other is equally ... but if in our thoughts we think ill will of the other ... the Karma has been done ... we may not be awarded as many points as we may have incurred had we act committed the physical act ... but on the scale of sin ... we have committed a unpardonable act! and the penalty points would definitely be awarded. In Jainism it is termed as bhava Karma ... you think ... and the act is done.

It is really beyond belief that Human Beings continue to weigh Spirituality on the scales of science. Can we ever think of seeing the beautiful smell of a flower ... we only feel it ... likewise all our actions are divided either on the physical or the mental plane. Anything we think or do results in a residual Karma ... how can we ever think of developing a Karma index ... the prime reason why a non graduate like Bill Gates holds the scientific world on his tips ... the best of the technological community works under his command ... there must be something else other than the engineering or the scientific background which makes the likes of a person like Bill Gates.

This something is nothing other than ... the indomitable will of the God ... the will of our atman the soul within which always guides us on the right path. From the materialistic point of view ... Americans can get patented techniques or fundamentals which are in use in a country like India for thousands and thousands of years ... what does it indicate other than the passion for money! The poor souls ... always weighing businesses from materialistic point of view. Spirituality starts where science ends ... the question of weighing Spirituality on the scales of science does not arise.

Albert Einstein in the later stages of his life deeply resented the fact that "he could not give Bhagavad Gita more time than he truly desired from his heart". He understood the fact that Spirituality could not be understood from the viewpoint of science. We need to have faith ... hundred percent faith in the system of God to understand the underlying truths contained in the Bhagavad Gita and all other sacred Scriptures of the world ... the same faith which gives us the sweet smell of a flower ... without which life would have lost its meaning.

The life in the West is a perfection of the physical manifested part of life ... yet there is something beyond to learn ... the reason why people from world-wide flock to India to learn those intricate truths ... inner truths which can never be learned without having faith and beliefs in the system of God. Lord Krishna... the Avataar was from India. Buddha and Lord Mahavira were born in India. Prophet Mohammed was also born in regions adjoining Persia... a region that belonged to India at a certain stage in history.

Jesus Christ came to India to learn of the secrets of Spirituality when he was about 13 years of age ... his total knowledge, the wisdom manifested in the Bible ... all flowed freely in the regions of Nalanda and Taxila universities at that time ... the two most renowned centers of learning the world ever had. These both regions now lie in the state of Bihar, India. The prime reason why the present most powerful man in Bihar ... Laloo Prasad Yadav is such an intelligent person. The seat of the king Vikramaditya ... a place from where flowed truthfulness and only truthfulness also lies in Bihar.

If at all there was a Karma index ... and I was able to know the acts of my previous life then the first thing I would have done after having attained maturity was murder my next-door neighbor ... why? Because in the earlier life he killed my only son. and as I had to take the revenge, which was not possible, as I could not face the might of the other, why not commit the act in this life. The prime reason why God has forbade contact with the earlier life.

Once any atman the soul within leaves the mortal frame ... except the residual Karma which governs our present life indirectly ... nothing else remains with us and this is passed on to us through the genes in the body (the chromosomes).

If we had committed deeds in our earlier life wherein we get birth in the house of a farmer in this life ... then can we ever expect to be born in the house of Prince Charles? We reap only what we sow ... nothing more or less! None has control over the destiny of past lives ... if we are to be born as a blacksmiths son then none can change our destiny ... yet, in the present life one has the power to change ones destiny and marry a princess.

More on Karma can be read here- Karma

In Hinduism ... Bhagavad Gita plays the governing role ... the only sacred document existing on Mother Earth, which explains everything from the beginning of the cosmos to the end. Once it is understood that the whole Cosmos is nothing else but is a play of Maya (ignorance) ... and everything exists without a beginning ... to overcome Maya ... one needs to pursue Spiritual goals of the highest level ... only then can one remove the dross from atman the soul within. The dross having removed ... atman the soul within shines in its cosmic Glory ... the bondage of Maya unveiled forever.

There is no contradiction in the Spiritual system. Only we need to come to a logical conclusion howsoever small the matter may be. Communities fight with one another owing to their vested interests ... their materialistic pursuits of life ... we need to feel and see Atman within every being ... the cause for any fight would vanish forever. In the theory of evolution survival of the fittest is meant for manifestations up to the animal life ... not beyond. As a human being are we supposed to fight another ... yet we do ... life has to go on ... this is how the system was built by God. One must never worry about the benefit of the masses ... we need to worry about cleansing of our own atman the soul within ... as we rise higher and higher on the Spiritual plane the cause for all fight would vanish and we would live as brothers and sisters.

I distinctly remember when climbing the CN tower in Toronto ... we reached the first stage ... and something about a 20 kilometer diameter of the Toronto was visible ... as we reached to the top ... my brother-in-law indicated to me that we see even beyond the limits of Toronto ... an area about 60 kilometer in diameter. On the Spiritual plane as we rise higher and higher ... the cause for all disputes melts away ... we are on our own ... a feeling of absolute Spirituality overtakes us ... we develop a feeling of brotherhood for all.

This is how we are supposed to conduct ourselves in daily life ... for the sake of our survival we are not supposed to cause injury to the other ... we are not born an animal ... we have the thinking prowess ... we can lift ourselves to the height of man gods ... become a Mahavira, Buddha, Jesus Christ or a Prophet Mohammed in the present life.

Here I shall narrate a small incidence relating to Gandhiji-
During one of the most crucial meetings being conducted by Nehruji, the then prime minister of India ... and when a consensus was not possible to be arrived in spite of many hours of discussion ... Gandhiji would leave the meeting saying that he had to milk his goat. Nehruji would not be able to control his anger but was always unable to say anything to Gandhiji ... after about half an hour when Gandhiji returned he would just spare a cursory glance at Nehruji stating that ... do this! Nehruji used to wonder how a man like Gandhiji could arrive at the right conclusion while milking the goat ... he failed to understand that it was not the milking of the goat that was important but it was the crucial self inquiry which Gandhiji indulged in before coming to the conclusion and for that he required a peaceful time of half an hour or so.

Gandhiji never favored the Hindus ... for him both Hindus and Muslims were alike... both the communities belonged to the country. His solutions were always pacifying for both the parties. Ignorance is not something to be admonished in life, as the body has to carry on with the Karma and no human being ever has any control over the inbuilt ignorance from the earlier lives.

As regards the senses ... it is like we are required to remove 99% of impurities from hundred KG of iron ore to separate one KG of pure iron from lump of hundred KG of iron. To remove the impurities every atman the soul within has to take a body ... which ultimately passes through a chain of 8.4 million manifestations ... this is a long journey indeed and the body needs something to prolong the journey ... God created senses so that Human Beings do not Realize God in a short span of time ... one is supposed to travel the normal routine of 96.4 million years (the cosmic life span of an Atman).

The senses play a very devitalizing role and delay our achieving the goal instantaneously ... only those serious seekers of Spirituality ... the kinds of Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana cut short their journey by practicing absolute Celibacy and Realized God within their lifetime. We always try to discipline our senses because our atman the soul within always prompts us from within to hurry up ... yet, the senses play their own role and delay the journey. It is a vital combination of both the senses and the Spirituality that we have to maintain a balance in our lives ... only then can we hope to excel towards our goal early.

One incident cost sage Vishwamitra heavily on the Spiritual plane- He was a sage almost equal or even more learned than the other contemporary sage Vashistha of his era. But one day while passing through the jungle (Forest) he came upon the sight of a fair Lady taking bath in most sensuous circumstances. He fell for it ... he lost himself ... he lost his goal ... he fell from grace. It was all the doing of senses that sage Vishwamitra had to lower his esteem and again repeat those penances, which equaled him to sage Vashistha. Glory be to the senses, which definitely guide us in conducting the journey of life. Only if we desire to expedite our Spiritual journey have we to take absolute control of senses and then the mind before we can Realize God.

Always there to clarify your queries (send your query),

Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani" Vijay Kumar... The Man who Realized God in 1993 on What is Karma. For more on what is karma- karma sutra instant karma yoga visit - what is karma

Full text of query: I believe Sahu's main question is not about God deriving pleasure!! but why are we given senses and asked to discipline them? Anyways, I've a few fundamental questions that bother me since long : Why do we need to be liberated from Karma? I mean what happens next? Is Karma a scientifically verifiable fact or is it a belief? We do not remember deeds (Karma index) of our past birth(s), how can we justify the Karma continuation in all your lives until Liberation? Does Hinduism have any guidelines for the living in the real world? As in how do we defeat/overcome Maya in its own game/ground to accomplish things for the good of all and sundry? We cannot ignore the fact that we need to excel in the nature's game of survival.