Dharma Mūlikam
The Dharma Mūlikam (“the root of dharma”) is Bhīshma’s teaching to Yudhishṭhira on karma, the law that every act brings its result. It is found in the Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 322. It teaches that karma is certain, that it is exact, and that it ripens at its own time.
The question
Yudhishṭhira asks about the fruits of dāna (giving), yajña (fire ritual) and tapas (austerity). Are these fruits certain? Can they be lost or delayed? How do they work?
Bhīshma does not begin with a list of fruits. He begins with the principle that makes all fruits possible: karma.
Karma follows the doer like a shadow
The first teaching of the chapter is this:
Karma follows the doer as a shadow follows the body. It never separates.
Whoever does karma, whether through dāna, yajña and tapas or through their opposites, carries it with him. It stays with the jīva (the living being) as a shadow stays with the body in sunlight. It moves when the body moves.
Karma is of three kinds. Prārabdha karma shapes the circumstances of the next birth. Saṃcita karma waits for the right conditions to ripen. Āgāmi karma is being made moment by moment.
Karma by stage of life
The chapter gives a special teaching. Karma done in one stage of life (jīvana-avasthā) is experienced in the same stage of life in a future birth.
Karma done in youth, such as learning, service and bodily discipline, ripens in youth in a later birth. Karma done in middle life, such as the duties of a householder, service to society and raising children, ripens in middle life in the next birth. Karma does not join one common pool from which the jīva draws at random. It stays tied to the stage of life in which it was made.
Karma is like hidden wealth
The second image is that karma is like hidden wealth (nigūḍha-dhana). A man who buries gold in a safe place does not carry it with him, yet it does not stop existing. It waits for the time when the owner returns to take it.
In the same way the karma from dāna, yajña and tapas is stored. It is not lost. It may not come at once, but it waits for the moment of its ripening. A person who has given and practised tapas but does not yet see the results can learn from this image: the fruits are real and are kept for their appointed time.
Karma is like a tree in its season
The third image is a tree that flowers and fruits in its own season. The tree does not bear fruit out of season, however much it is watered. The farmer who planted it does not have to prompt it. The season comes, and the tree acts from its own nature.
So karma from righteous action ripens at its appointed time, neither before nor after, and neither more nor less than its due. A person who knows this is not impatient for the fruit and does not give up hope that it will come.
Karma is faster than a runner
The fourth teaching is that karma follows the doer faster than he can run. No one can outrun karma by speed, by cleverness or by the passing of time. It is not like a debt that can be set aside. Experience of the result, opposing karma, or moksha (liberation) are the ways it ends. Whoever thinks he has escaped his past acts through distance, time or changed circumstances is mistaken, for a shadow cannot be outrun.
Nāstikas
The chapter speaks firmly about the nāstikas, those who deny karma and the moral order of the world. They are to be kept out of the community that follows dharma and sent away to dangerous forests (araṇya).
The person who teaches others to deny karma leads them to give up the practices that protect and lift them up. For this reason the nāstika is a source of harm to the community.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Mokshadharma Parva, Chapter 322