Karma
Karma, “that which is done”
Grammar: neuter noun, karman, from the root kṛ (to do); its nominative form is karma. The Agni Purāṇa itself defines it: “that which is done”.
Meaning: the word has several meanings in the Agni Purāṇa:
- Action, the rites and duties a person does, and the fruit that comes from them.
- In the dīkshā, karma is one of the pāśas (bonds) of the jīva, with māyā and mala.
- In grammar, the object of the verb, for which the second case (dvitīyā) is used.
In the scriptures:
Action and its fruit. In the Advaita Brahma-vijñāna, Bharata, carrying the palanquin of the king of Sauvīra for the exhausting of his prārabdha (the karma that had begun to bear fruit), teaches the king: the five bhūtas are swept along in the current of the guṇas; the guṇas, sattva and the others, are subject to karma; and karma is gathered by avidyā, in all jīvas. When the king asks who he is, he answers that it is impossible to say “I am so-and-so”: all come only to experience the fruit of karma, reaching different places and times for sukha and duḥkha, and for the fruits of dharma and adharma. “Man”, “woman”, “bull”, “horse”, “elephant”, “tree” and “bird” are names imposed on bodies born of karma, names made by the world. The distinctions of mountain, animal and tree, and of “king” and “soldier”, are all born of karma and are not changeless truths (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 380).
In the Gītā-sāra, Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Arjuna that one who knows the truth of the guṇas, of karma and of its ripening is not attached; the fire of jñāna burns all karmas to ash; and one who gives up attachment and does karma offering it to Brahman is not stained by pāpa, as a lotus leaf is not wetted by water. The yajña that brings about the arising of beings is called karma. Some see the ātmā by dhyāna, some by Sāṅkhya-yoga, some by Karma-yoga. Karmas such as yajña and dāna give bhukti and mukti. The fruit of karma is threefold, unwanted, wanted and mixed, and it comes after death only to those without tyāga (renunciation); to sannyāsīs it never comes. Karma done from attachment, moha, kleśa and fear is tāmasa, karma done without kāma is sāttvika, and what differs from these is rājasa; again, karma without desire is sāttvika, with desire rājasa, and from moha tāmasa. The five causes of karma are the adhishṭhāna (seat), the doer, the various instruments, the various efforts, and daiva. Worshipping Vishṇu by one’s own karma, one attains siddhi; and the bhāgavata who, by the karma of mind, speech and body, contemplates at all times that this world from Brahmā down to the stambha is the form of Vishṇu, surely attains siddhi (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 381).
In the Yama-gītā, the teachers’ sayings on the highest śreyas are gathered. Jaigīshavya says that karma enjoined by the Ṛg, Yajus and Sāma, done as duty and without attachment, brings śreyas. One should do karma, which is of the form of pravṛtti and nivṛtti, but naishkarmya (freedom from karma) is the highest śreyas, and this itself is the form of Hari (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 382).
The bond of karma. In the nirvāṇa-dīkshā, for the removal of the pāśa-bonds born of māyā, of mala and of karma, the guru purifies with the hṛdaya-mantra and offers a hundred homas in the fire; then five homas each with the astra-mantra ending in svāhā, for dissolving the mala-śakti and removing the pāśas (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 84). In the purification of the Vidyā kalā, for rooting out all mala, karma and the rest and for the removal of the pāśa-bonds, a hundred homas are offered with the astra-mantra ending in svāhā (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 86).
The object in grammar. In the teaching of grammar which Skanda gives Kātyāyana, karma is “that which is done”, and the dvitīyā (second case) comes for the karma (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 351). Karma is of seven kinds:
- Īpsita karma, the desired object: “yatiḥ hariṃ śraddadhāti” (the yati has faith in Hari).
- Anīpsita karma, the undesired object: “ahiṃ laṅghayate” (he steps over the snake).
- Īpsitānīpsita karma, the object both desired and undesired.
- Akathita karma, the unstated object: “gopālakaḥ gāṃ payo dogdhi” (the cowherd milks the cow for milk).
- Kartṛ-karma, the doer made the object: “guruḥ śishyaṃ grāmaṃ gamayati” (the guru makes the śishya go to the village).
- Abhihita karma, the object expressed by the verb: “hareḥ pūjā kriyate” (pūjā of Hari is done).
- Anabhihita karma, the object not expressed by the verb: “hareḥ stotraṃ kuryāt” (let him make a stotra of Hari).
The same chapter gives “naumi vishṇuṃ śriyā saha” (I bow to Vishṇu together with Śrī), where vishṇum is the karma and so in dvitīyā (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 354).
In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa: karma is action and the fruit it brings, which binds the jīva while it acts with desire and as the doer, and which frees when it is offered to Īśvara.
The law of karma. No one can stay a moment without karma: made dependent by the vāsanās of the mind, the product of prakṛti, a man is forced to act. Because jīvas are attached to the guṇas, one with “I” and “mine” in the body cannot avoid karma, and to those who act as doers come puṇya and pāpa by turns. As much dharma or adharma as a man does here, in that measure he surely enjoys its fruit in the paraloka. Only one who does not know the Ātmā is entitled to karma; karma cannot destroy karma at the root, and ātma-jñāna alone is the real prāyaścitta (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 6, Chapter 1). Ajāmila, resolving to cast off his bondage, saw the chain: not knowing the Ātmā leads to desire, desire to karma, and karma to bondage (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 6, Chapter 2).
Śrī Kṛshṇa, turning Nanda and the gopas from the yajña to Indra, said: karma done with knowledge succeeds, and done without knowing it does not give its fruit in the same measure. The jīva is born and dies by karma and gains happiness, sorrow, fear and well-being by karma. By karma he takes high and low bodies; enemy, friend, the indifferent one and the guru all come by karma, and even the grace of Īśvara depends on puṇya. So one should honour karma and follow one’s own dharma; that by which one lives happily is one’s deity (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 24). When Jarāsandha was defeated by the Yādavas, the kings told him, with words of rāja-nīti and worldly examples, that his defeat came from the bondage of his karma (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 50).
Nārada Maharshi told Vyāsa Maharshi that kāmya karma, the cause of saṃsāra, and even nitya karma not offered to Īśvara are of little worth (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 5). Karma is sorrow both in the doing and in the fruit; even the highest karma does not shine if it is not offered to Īśvara (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapter 12).
Kāmya karma, the bond. Kāmya karma is karma done for a desired fruit. Parīkshit Mahārāja asked Śrī Śuka Maharshi about the agnihotra, the pūrta and the kāmya karmas (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 2, Chapter 8). Nārada told Vyāsa that to teach kāmya karma under the name of dharma to people attached to pleasure is very wrong, for the ignorant cling to it (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 5). Bhagavān Kapila teaches that the karmaṭhas give up forbidden karma and do the nitya and kāmya karmas with faith (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 32). Brahmā told Bhagavān Śiva that he grants the joys of svarga to those who do auspicious deeds with desire (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 6). Pṛthu, asked by Bhagavān Vishṇu to choose a vara, said that Śrī Hari’s speech as the Veda binds man, else why would man do kāmya karmas again and again (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 20). Nārada told Prācīnabarhisha that one who does kāmya karmas with the pride “I am the doer” is bound in saṃsāra, the flow of the three guṇas, loses discernment and goes to lower births as beasts and birds (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 26); that kāmya karmas must not be taken for the purushārtha, for their pleasing sentences of fruit cannot reach the tattva of the Paramātmā; and that the small sense-pleasures that come when they ripen are the fragrance of the honey in the flowers (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 29).
Ṛshabhadeva told his sons that a king, father or guru who seeks his grace should patiently teach this yoga to subjects, sons and disciples, and not push the ignorant back into kāmya karmas, into the pit of saṃsāra (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 5). In Pushkara dvīpa the people worship Bhagavān Śrī Hari in the form of Brahmā with sakāma karma, karma done with desire, and recite their mantra (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 20). Prahlāda said that the part of the Veda that teaches kāmya karma is the great rope, and the rites that fulfil desires are the small ropes that bind such people (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 5); and Nārada tells Yudhishṭhira that hiṃsā must not be done for kāmya karmas (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 15). Saṅkarshaṇa taught Citraketu that karmas done for desire bring hardship and the opposite fruit: men and women do kāmya karmas to end sorrow and gain happiness, but gain neither, and proud of their cleverness reap the opposite; turning from desire gives the fearless ātmā, and the wise should not resolve on desires (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 6, Chapter 16).
Akrūra said in his stuti that the jīvas, bewildered by māyā with the grip of “I” and “mine”, wander in the paths of kāmya karma (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 40). Camasa told Nimi that if the twice-born run after the arthavādas and become devoted to kāmya karma, they are deluded and far from moksha; lacking the skill to act and escape karma’s bondage, the fools think themselves learned (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 5). Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Uddhava that the sādhaka gives up kāmya karmas and does the nitya and naimittika karmas without desire (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 10), and that the all-knowing Veda would never set those who do not know moksha back on the road of saṃsāra: its intent is not in the kāmya karmas (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 21).
When Brahmā saw every calf and gopa boy as a form of Bhagavān Vishṇu, he saw Time, nature, saṃskāra, desires, karma, the guṇas and jāti taking form and adoring those forms, their own glory paling before them (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 13).
Related terms: Karma-phala · Prārabdha · Avidyā · Guṇa · Pāśa · Dīkshā · Kartā · Karaṇa · Vibhakti
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 84, 86, 351, 354, 380–382
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 5; Skandha 2, Chapter 8; Skandha 3, Chapter 32; Skandha 4, Chapters 6, 20, 26, 29; Skandha 5, Chapters 5, 20; Skandha 6, Chapters 1–2, 16; Skandha 7, Chapters 5, 15; Skandha 10, Chapters 13, 24, 40, 50; Skandha 11, Chapters 5, 10, 21; Skandha 12, Chapter 12