Four Types of Karma Karma is primarily of four kinds : 1. Sanchita Karma (Sum Total Karma or Accumulated actions or the Arrows in the Quiver) Sanchita Karma is the vast store of piled-up Karma accumulated in the preceding and in all other previous births and yet to be resolved. In other words, it is the aggregate sum of yet unseen Karmas committed during innumerable previous existences. This is your total cosmic debt. Every moment of your every day, you are either adding to it or you are reducing. Unless and until the Sanchita Karma of a Soul is zeroed, it keeps on birthing in new physical bodies, till it is exhausted. 2.Praarabdha Karma (Fructifying Karma or Actions began; set in motion or Arrows in Flight) Fruit-bearing karma is the portion of accumulated karma that has ripened and appears as a particular obstacle in the present life. In other words, Praarabdha Karma is a Karmic Template (of that portion of Sanchita Karma) that is ripe enough to be experienced by you and alloted for this lifetime for you to work on. Jyotish, the Vedic Astrology and any other authentic method of Astrology, at its best, can reveal only the Praarabdha Karma. 3. Kriyamana Karma (Instant, Current Karma or Being made or Arrows in Hand) All kriyamana karmas flow in to sanchita karma and consequently shape our future, instant Karma created in this lifetime and that we create in our life because of our free actions. While some Kriyamana Karmas bear fruit in the current life, others are stored for enjoying in future births. Thus the Kriyamana Karma is classified into two sub-categories: Arabdha Karma - literally, begun, undertaken; the Karma that is sprouting- and Anarabdha Karma - not commenced; dormant or The Seed Karma. Actions performed consciously are weighted more heavily than those done unconsciously. On this basis many hindus believe that only human beings who can distinguish right from wrong can do (kriyamana) karma. Therefore animals and young children are considered incapable of creating new karma (and thus cannot affect their future destinies) - explained in further depth in the Vedas, as they are incapable of discriminating between right and wrong. 4. Aagami Karma (Future Karma) Aagami Karma is the Karmic Map that is coming, as a result of the merits and demerits of the present actions of your current birth. In other words, it is the portion of Karma that is created because of the actions in the present life and that will be added to your Sanchita Karma. -------------- Karma echoes in the modern and scientific word also, in Newtons law of Motion - on which every action, has an equal and opposite reaction. You will also see in your own life, and in nature, you reap what you sow. Due to hinduisms (Sanatana Dharma) flexibility and acceptance that humans are flowing expression and text as frozen expression means the two will likely collide, hard and fast rules are rarely implemented, you are free to shape the way of life around the stage your soul resides in. You are free to view the concept of Karma as including the Personal God/Ishvara (The Supreme) or totally discard the presence of a higher being and accept it as a natural law of the universe, of cause and effect - Depending on the school of thought you resonate with. As the scriptures propound not everybody needs/is ready to accept god as a legitimate entity. There is a passage from Swami Sivanandas translation of the Svetasvatara Upanishad (4:6) illustrating one of the many hundreds of views: Two birds of beautiful plumage — inseparable friends — live on the same tree. Of these two one eats the sweet fruit while the other looks on without eating. In his commentary, the first bird represents the individual soul, while the second represents Brahman or God. The soul is essentially a reflection of Brahman. The tree represents the body. The soul identifies itself with the body, reaps the fruits of its actions, and undergoes rebirth. The Lord alone stands as an eternal witness, ever contented, and does not eat, for he is the director of both the eater and the eaten. Swami Sivananda also notes that God is free from charges of partiality and cruelty which are brought against him because of social inequality, fate, and universal suffering in the world. According to the Brahma Sutras, individual souls are responsible for their own fate; God is merely the dispenser and witness with reference to the merit and demerit of souls. In his commentary on Chapter 2 of the Brahma Sutras, Sivananda further notes that the position of God with respect to karma can be explained through the analogy of rain. Although rain can be said to bring about the growth of rice, barley and other plants, the differences in various species is due to the diverse potentalities lying hidden in the respective seeds. Thus, Sivananda explains that differences between classes of beings are due to different merits belonging to individual souls, on there journey, at that particular time. ---A common misconception : Suffering is never blamed on Karma. Blame and responsibility are different. Karma entails understanding that we are all ultimately responsible for our own lives. Belief in karma does not automatically create indifference to the suffering of ourselves or others (as the above statement may imply), but underpins sentiments of helping others to help themselves.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 07:17:17 +0000
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