Trikaraṇa
Trikaraṇa · tri-karaṇa, “the three instruments of action”
Grammar: neuter noun; a compound of tri (three) and karaṇa (instrument, the means by which one acts): “the three instruments”.
Meaning: mind, speech and body taken together, the three means by which every karma is done; “in thought, word and deed”.
In the scriptures: in the dialogue of Umā and Maheśvara, Devī Pārvatī asks Bhagavān Śiva by which three kinds of karma-bonds, of mind (mānasika), of speech (vācika) and of body (śārīraka), humans are bound, how they are freed, and by what conduct they gain svarga (heaven). Bhagavān Śiva answers: “Those who harm no being in thought, word or deed; who are attached to nothing; who are compassionate and do not kill; who have good conduct; who are even-minded toward the pleasant and the unpleasant; whom all beings can trust; who restrain the senses: they are not bound by karmas. They gain svarga.” He then teaches the dharma of speech and the dharma of mind, each in turn (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 224).
To the munis and dvijas gathered near him, Bhagavān Śiva says that for humans bound by the nooses of karma there is no means other than Vāsudeva: those who worship him well, in mind, speech and deed, gain moksha. The dvijas, taking refuge in him without fear and bowing in thought, word and deed, should strive for his darśana: “this is the path I have laid down” (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 226).
Vyāsa tells the munis the ladder of bhakti: its first step is bhakti practised with the three karaṇas pure, with the mind fixed on the other devatās, and it brings śraddhā in performing yajñas (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 229). Among the marks of the Kali age, he says, people of little understanding, ruled by faults of speech, mind and body, commit pāpas every day, and every sorrow comes upon those who abandon truth, purity and shame (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 230).
Related terms: Vācika Dharma · Mānasika Dharma · Karma · Bhakti
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 224, 226, 229–230