Karmabhūmi
Karmabhūmi · karma-bhūmi, “the land of action”
Grammar: feminine noun; a compound of karma (action, the deeds that bear fruit) and bhūmi (land, earth): “the land of action”.
Meaning: the land where karma is performed and bears its fruit, where a being can act for dharma and for moksha; as against a bhogabhūmi, a land where beings only enjoy the fruit of puṇya already gained.
In the scriptures: the Bhāgavata Purāṇa gives the word for Bhāratavarsha.
Śrī Śuka Maharshi, describing the varshas of Jambūdvīpa to Parīkshit, says that of all of them Bhāratavarsha alone is the karmabhūmi. The other eight varshas are bhogabhūmis, lands of enjoyment, where the dwellers of svarga enjoy the puṇya that remains to them; the mahātmās call them abodes of svarga on the earth, and there men, almost like the devatās, live ten thousand years by human measure (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 17).
When his father Nābhi had gone to the forest, Bhagavān Ṛshabhadeva knew that his land was a karmabhūmi, a land where karma is performed. To set an example for human beings he lived in the gurukula, gave dakshiṇā to his gurus and married Jayantī, given to him by Indra (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 4).
In his stuti to Śrī Kṛshṇa, King Mucukunda says: “O Deva untouched by pāpa! In this world, the karmabhūmi, a man has somehow, without effort, obtained a human birth with no defect of limb. Such a birth is hard to get. Yet a man of corrupt mind, fallen into the dark well of saṃsāra, like a beast, does not serve your lotus feet” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 51).
In the Bhavishya Purāṇa: the karmabhūmi is this world, where human birth and dāna are rare.
- After thousands of births, whoever is born in this karmabhūmi in the rare human form and does not worship Śrī Vishṇu and give the jala-dhenu, his birth is in vain (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 153). In this karmabhūmi the gift of the kāñcana-dhenu is very rare, so one should strive to give it (Uttara Parva, Chapter 156).
- Pippalāda Muni said to a grieving woman: “Devi, the fruits of karmas done in a former birth are what one receives in the next birth. This is the karmabhūmi, so you should not grieve” (Uttara Parva, Chapter 167).
- The Pratisarga Parva tells that the narakas famed as Tāmisra and others will all be filled with humans born in the karmabhūmi, and that Bhagavān Kalki will tell of the state of the karmabhūmi (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 24–25).
- The same parva tells that for sixteen thousand years the karmabhūmi, heated by the fire of the yoga of Bhagavān Kalki, will burn to ash and become lifeless. Pralaya clouds will pour rain and the land will sink in water. After Kaliyuga has gone, Bhagavān Hari will again make the karmabhūmi a lovely dry land and do yajana of the devas by yajñas. After Bhagavān Kalki has gone, Bhagavatī Karmabhūmi, in grief, burning in the fire of separation, will destroy the seeds (Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapter 26).
Related terms: Bhogabhūmi · Karma · Bhāratavarsha · Jambūdvīpa · Varsha
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapters 4, 17; Skandha 10, Chapter 51
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 24–26; Uttara Parva, Chapters 153, 156, 167