Karma theory is a fundamental concept in Sanatana Dharma that is borne out of lots of common sense logic and subtle observations. Today as most Hindus exist as namesake, a basic understanding of the fundamentals eludes us, thus keeping us away from applying these basics for our betterment in our lives. Karma exists in thought, word and action; yet, not all of them constitute as Karma that will impact our spiritual trajectory and next lives. Itching a scratch or having a cup of coffee may not have the same impact as Kama, Krodha and Lobha. But constantly pining for them, even subconsciously, will yield some fruits or Karmaphala. Sounds like an apparent conundrum. An understanding of what is Karma is so subtle that even Yajnavalkya refused a public discussion with Arthabhaga in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. So our study will remain scratching the surface.
Krishna asserts in Bhagavad Gita 3-5 that no one can remain without doing some Karma, not even for a moment (न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत् na hi kaścit kṣaṇam api jātu tiṣṭhaty akarma-kṛt). By this axiom, all human beings are doing some Karma, either due to the force of their sensory/mental vasanas or due to the pressure exerted by the objects on the mind. Some of the results are immediate, whilst others take time. In due course, the results of Karma is borne as a fruit, Karmaphala. It is possible that many such actions may not yield fruits in this life time. They accumulate like credit against our subtle body, sukshma sarira, as Sanchita Karma. As all physical manifestation in a body come with limitations, only a fraction of this accumulation is set to fructify in this body. This kind of Karmaphala is Prarabdha. Once in a janma, we continue to make newer Karma instead of merely exhausting the past prarabdha load. This new Karma is referred as Agami or Kriyamana Karma. The results may either add to Prarabdha or Sanchita.
But we still have doubts, why, how, when and where the Karmaphala will come, so we can profit from it. We also carry this false notion that we can do enough good Karma to cancel our past bad ones. Added to the confusion of false marketing of Christianity lies that repentance will absolve one from Karmas. Even greater is the lie that someone else will carry the burden of your Karmas. We also get puzzled that good people seem to suffer endlessly while patently bad people seem to be thriving.
While all these valid questions have been answered in other blogs, we will attempt to focus on a single question of the time when Karma fructifies. To do this we need to review the incidents of Draupadi’s Vastraharana episode and the Mahabharata war.
Storytime:
Sabha Parva: Through deception, Duryodhana tricks Yudhishtra to play dice and swaps himself with Shakuni. After inducing Yudhishtra to wager everything he had and lose, Shakuni enticed him to wager his brothers and eventually Draupadi and lose. Vidura was the lone voice of sanity pleading Duryodhana not to head on the path of self destruction, while Bhishma, Drona, Kripa and others like Bhurisravas hung their head in shame. Duryodhana asked Vidura(aka Kshatta) to fetch Draupadi. Since he got an earful of advice, he turned to Pratikamin to do his bidding, who only returned back with Draupadi’s logical questions. Feeling defeated, he asked his brother, Dushasana to fetch her, who abused her thoroughly while pulling her hair. One must remember Draupadi was isolated in a single cloth, following the traditions of the day due to her menstruation, though it fell in the deaf ears of the evil. Karna set the ball in motion by smilingly approving Draupadi addressed as as Dasi by Dushasana. Her loud appeals and logical questions to the elders in the Sabha were met with a deafening silence. This only emboldened the heartless Duryodhana who wanted to pounce on his prey. Only Vikarna repeatedly appealed Dharma and none of the elders were even moved to act. Despite Draupadi’s personal pleas to all the personages, they merely expressed their frustration for Duryodhana in mere silence. No one came to the defense of DHARMA though the worst of ADHARMA was unrolling right in front of them. It was a collective failure of the Kshatriya community, whose sworn duty is to uphold Dharma.
Dushasana on being goaded to remove the clothes of Draupadi proceeded with the most disgusting and reprehensible act in all of the Itihaspuranas. Draupadi invoked Krishna’s grace and was protected when abandoned by all possible options of refuge. Interestingly Bhagawan manifested as mere DHARMA protecting Draupadi.
Mahabharata, the Karmaphala
Most critics beginning from Duryodhana in deathbed hold Krishna fouling up the war. Victory would have never happened to the Pandavas against the 11 akshauhini sena of the Kauravas, without the bending of norms against Bhishma, Drona, Karna and even Duryodhana. Hindus in Name only (HINOs) who never study any shastras not only buy it but become vehement vehicles to attack Sanatana Dharma.
This blog aims to correct this understanding flaw. At the surface it appears that all the criticisms are factual. But upon looking through the prism of Dharma, an entirely different picture emerges.
Bhishma – A warrior par excellence, who defeated his own Guru, Parasurama, had Ichchamrtyu kavacha, die only on his will. Let us remember that Arjuna though he had the invincible Pasupathastra, he didn’t have the mental courage or necessity to use it. Bhishma too gave word to Duryodhana that he will never kill the Pandavas. Bhishma was in a quandary with no one to advice like Krishna. So when approached by the Pandavas with Krishna at their vanguard, he reminded that he will not fight a woman. So the Pandavas used Shikandi, a woman at birth who had a gender change, as a shield.
Bhishma was silent in Sabha Parva merely watching the abuses to Draupadi. Instead of taking arms to defend Stri Dharma he hid behind a false interpretation of a promise given to his father Shantanu. He thought he will see his father in every King that rules Hastinapura. What he failed to see was if they were of the same caliber as his father. This subtle misinterpretation of Dharma bound his hands during Sabha Parva but its Karmaphala came through Shikandi keeping his hands tied while Arjuna took him down.
Drona: Drona hid behind a lie of loyalty to the king. He forgot to come to the aid of Draupadi. He failed in his role as a Guru to stop his bad disciples hiding behind loyalty to Dhritarashtra. On one side Draupadi being his friend’s daughter is like his own. On another side being his prime disciple’s wife is his own daughter in law. Yet he didn’t act to uphold Dharma.
During the war, Bhima killed Aswattama, a war elephant, and declared it as killing Drona’s son. Though Krishna had prepped Yudhishtra that it was the only way to stop the carnage of Drona using Divyastras unnecessarily. Yudhishtra’s open ended statement hinting as a lie was "Aswathama Hatha Kunjaraha" (अश्वत्थामा हत कुञ्जर:) translates to "Ashwatthama is dead, the elephant," to the question if it was man or elephant by Drona. Krishna knowing the nature of Yudhishtra, sounded the Panchajanya along with the others to drown the message. A dejected Drona sank on to the chariot in meditation only to find his head cut off by Dhrishtadyumna. His Karmaphala came as a lie to match his own.
Karna: He was the instigator in chief. A defeated Karna banded with six charioteers to attack a sixteen year old Abhimanyu. During the war, due to a variety of reasons, Karna’s chariot wheel sunk. He was busy trying to fix it while displaying sheer nonsense. His common sense was robbed by all the ADHARMA he had committed in his life. He pleaded Dharma to Arjuna, not to hit a warrior on foot.
Krishna narrated all the ADHARMA Karna was part of since the Pandava childhood. He had a strong role in every evil plot of Duryodhana. In most cases, where Duryodhana had to keep quiet, Karna would abuse the elders and keep the ADHARMIC actions going. For Arjuna, Krishna saved his head from Nagastra just to remind DHARMA protects the head. For Karna, ADHARMA came with a price to cut its head through Anjalika, as his own Karmaphala.
Duryodhana: For all his bad Karmas he could have gone out in different ways. But to go out in disgrace by being hit on his thighs was ironic. Krishna reminded the tiring Bhima who was fighting a trained Duryodhana about his promise to break his thighs in the Kuru Sabha. One was to act like a reminder, two was to give a solution to Bhima who was overwhelmed. Krishna did the same messaging during Jarasandha vadha. It was also a reminder of Maitreya Maharishi’s similar curse. Krishna is playing the role of a DHARMA reminder, but it also was the exit crafted by Duryodhana’s actions of decades.
Dushasana being the right hand man for all Duryodhana’s adharma got his retribution as Bhima fulfilling his terrible promise. We see a similar echo Bhurisravas death, where Krishna asked Arjuna to intervene from a certain death for Satyaki but kept quiet on Satyaki’s revenge attack. Vikarna too falls owing to his inability to muster courage to translate his conviction of DHARMA into actions by actually upholding it, unlike Yuyutsu, who switched sides for the sake of DHARMA.
Aswattama had a long rope being Guru’s son. His Kriyamana Karma during the war was tolerated. But after the war ended, he killed all the remaining in the Pandava camp including Upapandavas, Shikandi and Dhrishtadyumna. Further unable to retain his rage, he directed the Brahmastra at the unborn child of Uttara, Parikshit. Unlike other Karmas, this fetched an immediate curse from both Krishna and Vyasa.
Dhritarashtra chose to enjoy his son’s show of strength in silence. He displayed fake magnanimity fearing Draupadi’s pativrata. This is evident in his secret hope that his sons will snatch victory, somehow. The very first sloka of the Bhagavad Gita is suffice to prove that. Gandhari instead of being the vision to her blind husband, chose the blindfolded path. So her voice of Dharma had weakened despite her intellect deeply rooted in sadhana. For a lady who could curse Krishna, she seems very ineffective against the stubbornness of her stupid son and greedy husband. The blind couple had to endure not only the Karmaphala of seeing all their children die of their own evil Karma, but also listen to Bhima’s taunts for fifteen years as Dhritarashtra enjoyed being the titular head of the family.
Krishna’s role: During the Sabha parva having realized that there is no support for this Jivatman in the world filled with a million relations, but for Parmatman, Draupadi does an unconditional surrender to Bhagawan Krishna. We may have to deep dive into this Saranagati later. But what was the aspect of Bhagawan Draupadi’s appeal reached first? DHARMA (धर्मात्मानं तथा कृष्णं शाश्वतं प्रभुमीश्वरम् Dharmātmānaṁ tathā Kṛṣṇaṁ śāśvataṁ prabhumīśvaram – Krishna the very essence of Dharma, the eternal ruler and Supreme controller) – This is Bhagawan in gross form and law, imminent and evident all around. DHARMA appeared as endless clothes to protect Draupadi from evil Dushasana.
Krishna decides to enter the Mahabharata war the same way he was during Sabha Parva. But owing to his extreme love for Pandavas and due to the high stakes against adharma, he decides to stay in the battlefield, but as a charioteer who won’t pick any weapons. Arjuna chose between a weaponless charioteer or a large akshauhini army for all twisted reasons. Yet Krishna remains the guide as Bhagavad Gita and the numerous instances as a voice of DHARMA, reason and strategy. His timely interventions in the deaths of Bhishma, Drona, Bhurisravas, Karna, Duryodhana and in the immediate counterattack of Aswattama but not Kripa and Kritavarma are ample evidence it was merely fructified Karmaphala. Bhagawan is the PHALADAATA and his timing is impeccable.
Then one wonders why didn’t Rukman or Balarama play a role. Rukman with his bloated ego cannot operate in the vicinity of Dharma (Krishna) and hence he ejected himself out of the war. Balarama, with his well established fondness for Duryodhana, found himself in an extreme predicament. When Bhagawan operates as DHARMA explicitly, even other aspects of BHAGAWAN are forced to comply. Balarama is unable to openly side Duryodhana as Krishna was on the side of the Pandavas. Krishna’s physical presence in the war is a deterrent for the extreme egotistical and for the Dharmic minded to go off track.
Practical applications:
Ahamkara driven actions yield vasanas that perpetually drive Karma- Karmaphala equation. In the case of Pandavas who surrendered to Krishna, vasanas are not spawn. Karmaphala is guided as Krishna’s blessings. Vanavasa turned out to be a long continuous sadhana for the Pandavas who were ready to swallow all their ego, abuse and expectations for the sake of peace, unlike Duryodhana who was drunk with greed and hate. Karmaphala in his case expresses as punishment, as his Ahamkara molds his actions and the receipt of its fruits.
Krishna, Krishna everywhere - Krishna is the canvas on which both our lives and the Mahabharata are painted. He is not as visible like he was to the Pandavas as our DHARMA quotient is extremely low. As one scales up with DHARMA, his imminent presence is felt in every single action.
Also as Dharma protected Draupadi visibly through a miracle, his physical presence was literally the face of Dharma. Dhritarashtra and his desires were the dark energy behind Duryodhana. Papa keeps egging a person to go deeper into papa without becoming visible. But Dharma, being subtle, is usually expressed in the form of some teaching like Guru or Bhagawan HIMSELF in that role. Krishna not only gives the Bhagavad Gita, but extremely valuable actionable dharmic guidance at every step of the war and beyond. Dharma guidance is subtle, but upfront, unlike adharma which puppets us through the backdoor of our vasanas. Dharma offers better choices, even if unpalatable, will give us long term good. Adharma pulls the strings of our desires and its modifications to push us towards something appealing but most certainly not good in the long term.
Strong visual reminder for proper focus - Draupadi kept her hair untied for 13 years, as a visible reminder for the Pandavas to take action vs Dushasana. To keep a focus on a futuristic action, the intensity of emotion has to be preserved as it is the energy of the emotion that translates to action, when supported by adequate injection of intelligence. One may need strong reminder and motivation to stay true north in Dharma. If Draupadi reminded that visual reminder for herself and the society, so do we.
Karma understanding through Mahabharata – From the birth Duryodhana was filled with evil Vasanas, as was Karna filled with anger and desire to fight Arjuna. We also see the Pandavas gravitate to Dharma. Our actions constantly expand or contract our choices. Dharmic actions open the door of choices, whilst adharmic ones narrow them. The actions of Sabha parva only strengthened the evil vasanas of the Duryodhana quartet, thus reducing the reformation choices. The burden of Prarabhda was so heavy that Duryodhana and Karna refused to accept any other option, as did Dhritarashtra. The Agamya Karma of butchering Abhimanyu led to graver consequences like Jayadhrata vada, but the worst were the unjustifiable actions of Aswattama's dark carnage. These were completely unjustified and preventable. Our vasanas reduce the choices we have to go vs the prarabhda, thus pushing our lifestyle to a predestination trajectory guided by our own past. Adharma limits these options while Dharma keeps opening subtle doors. Even Gandhari's curse took decades as it kept strengthening the dark vasanas of the Yadavas, Andhakas n Vrishnis. Gandhari’s curse makes Samba, Krishna’s son, to earn the wrath of Durvasa’s curse of self destruction, through his arrogant behavior.
Karma creates vasanas, which strengthen the possibility to repeat the same, even if the Karma didn’t bear the desired fruits. Interestingly we do Karma through our thoughts and words, besides actual actions. This feedback loop that keeps us immersed in this eternal cycle is called the Samsara. Karma also colors our Gunas, thus even impacting the way we can perceive these experiences. Going against the grain, may need Sadhana, Svadhyaya, Guru/Bhagawan’s grace or our past good Prarabhda to the rescue. As we create new Karmic patterns, we develop newer vasanas that will continue to wrestle with the old. In time the stronger one leads. A study of the Bhagavad Gita can give valuable insights to this regard.
Agamya/kriyamana karma is one link of a huge chain of Samsara. Aswattama is a great example of how one would have controlled but succumbed to his evil vasanas. Since most of our actions are kama centered emotion driven, we keep this engine of Agamya Karma going on forever based on our vasanas, even though it may provide us the same opportunity to do 180 to charter new path, at every single step.
The good can’t overwrite their bad actions: The Pandavas paid the price of their participation in the Sabha parva through the 12+1 years in the forest. But in Vana Parva their life was involved with a lot of introspection, meditation, preparation and association with the sages. This stripped their bad Karma through Satsangha, though Yudhishtra carried the burden of the war for life. Owing to the dharmic sensitivities he had, despite Bhishma's extensive insights as lessons, he never recovered from the impact of the war. Our actions don’t cancel out. But dominance of one variety can dwarf the effects of the other. For instance, Karna did lots of Guru sewa and practice to earn even the Brahmastra, but his lies and bad actions pulled him to the ground.
Role of divinity: Bhagawan gives chances to change our Prarabhda through purushartha. Both Duryodhana and Karna refused to change. Arjuna does through sadhana to gain divyastras to prepare. Krishna refuses to reveal the outcomes of the war, despite giving the Gita. One has to work their way through the ever unfolding uncertainties and constant purushartha to figure out the future events of our life. One cannot escape like the intention of Arjuna of BG, chapter 1. Contrary to our understanding, Bhagawan helps even the evil people. Even their actions fructify in time. Krishna gave an akshauhini sena to the Kaurava side though Arjuna pulled Krishna to his side through Dharma. Tamas keeps one rooted only in the limited self, which is why Rukman could not even participate in a Dharma Yuddha. Sattva of the Pandavas kept perceiving the grace of Krishna and wanted to include HIM in everything.
Karamaphala and time: The Sabha parva events took 13 years to fructify. Gandhari’s curse took 36 years before it materialized. Bhagawan decides as the Phaladaata the when, where and how. The framework is laid through an intricate pattern of our Karma. Our task is to be grounded in Dharma and continuously do Karma. If we can free ourselves from the desire behind the Karmaphala to do only Dharma centric Karma, dedicate the Karmaphala back to Bhagawan, our Karmas can even liberate us. This is the secret of Karma Yoga. In this practice, we realize that there are no actions that are centered and done by the limited Jiva, but every action is a Universal one, thus every Karmaphala is the echo of this Universal Consciousness.
Karmaphala comes with a limited shelf life before the fruits of the Karma are visible. The Karma already is being carried as the Vasanas, influencing the individual. While the timing of the Karmaphala or its quantitative nature cannot be ascertained with certainty, what can be guaranteed is that one day, the accrued Karmaphala will come to pass. With this assurance, let us align our Karma with DHARMA, not be hankering for Karmaphala by offering the fruits back to Bhagawan.
ॐ तत् सत
