The Lord’s creation is governed by perfect laws, everything that is seen in this world is subject to laws. Nowhere else can we find such a well-regulated government. All things are regulated according to the Lord’s wishes and will ever be so. Only what is His will is going to happen.
One of the laws is the law of Cause and Effect or the law of Karma. The message of this law has to be well understood as it is very, very important: ” this life of yours is the effect of your past actions and thinking. Beware of your present actions, for they will determine your future. If you do good, think good, you will be rewarded accordingly, if you commit mistakes or evil actions they will return to you with equal strength. As you sow, so you shall reap. We are ourselves the instigators of the causes of whatever effects are now prevalent in our life. We created it by our own actions. What will be, must be. We have to suffer the consequences of our past deeds, it cannot be otherwise. Why therefore wasting our time in fruitless cares?
None is responsible for the actions of others, everyone has come for his own particular work which is fixed before he is borne. This he has to do and get his wages according to his performance. Whoever is entrusted the task of governing, is himself the governed, it lies in his own hands. We stand and fall by our own actions.
The human bodies have been formed according to their own deeds. They take their birth as per the fruits of past Karmas, some fruit (Karmaphal) give joy, some sorrow and will be enjoyed or suffered at different times. The plants (actions, thoughts) reared by us grow into a beautiful garden or a jungle of thorns. We are not only harming others by injuring or willing but just by feeling angry, by acting greedily or selfish towards them. This triggers the same negative feelings in them. The power of thought is 10million times stronger than that of action. The harm that can be done to the world by evil thought is much greater than that caused by evil action. We get back enjoyments as we give to others. If we attain a high position we often judge wrongly, forgetting when we wounded the feelings of other people today, that we shall have to suffer in the same way tomorrow. When the day of suffering comes at last, we begin to repent – too late! What is to happen will surely happen – that can never be reversed by any attempt. Karmaphal is inevitable. Should we not rather think of how to avoid falling in future again under the clutches of this stern and inviolable law? –
What man has done, he can undo. For example: If you drink poison, whether you wish it or not, it will have its effect; similarly nectar. In order to nullify the effect of poison an anti-venum has to be administered. Similarly through repentance (Prayashit) the effect of bad deeds can be nullified to a great extent.
By suffering one can atone for past Karmas but cannot put a stop to fresh Karmas just as dirt cannot be removed by dirt. Special water is required to wash it off . The only sacred water is the Name of the Lord. As man cannot get unalloyed devotion at once in the heart, the Lord gave us His powerful sweet Name. In it lies the alchemy. It turns Kama into Prema. Name is the best net to catch Him. The closer and stronger we weave its meshes the more effective it becomes to catch the Illusive One. When Maya finds that we repeat only God’s Name, asking for nothing else, then out of compassion She will take us to His kingdom, but as long as we are materialistic and live forgetful of the Lord, She guides us and gives Her directions.-
Another way to be freed from the grip of Karma is to act as an agent, as an instrument. Lord Haranath explained this by telling this story: “You see me now smoking this pipe. If it is suddenly found in your pocket, all will hold you responsible for being the smoker, but you say, that the pipe has been given to you and you only kept it in your care. Then no blame comes to you. So, if you act as per the Lord’s wish you are only an instrument and the Karmaphal is left to Him. You are dedicating or renouncing your Karmaphal to the Lord which is Karmaphal Tyaga or renunciation. Our duty is to work but not to accept the fruits thereof. Work, but never desire its fruits ,for as long as there is thirst for the fruits of action, one will have to take birth again and again. Expecting fruits brings bondage, renouncing them purifies the heart , brings in its wake Jnana of the Self and frees from the rounds of births and deaths.
The wise man defeats his past by transferring his allegiance from creation to the Creator, who is in His all-pervading universal form watching our movements at all times. Surrender all Karmas at His feet and find relief. Through total surrender to the Lord we come under His influence and protection. Maya will no longer affect us. As our love and faith grows, as we surrender mind, ego, body totally, the Lord will destroy the Ego, which separates us from Him. For a true devotee every work, divine or ordinary, is a sacred offering, an expression of his love for the Lord. He is full of humbleness and realizes his own shortcomings. He will not take any credit on himself but sees everywhere Lord’s grace. If we really want to get Him, we must abjure self-enjoyment and learn to be full of joy and Prema Rasa.
The earth is a place of examination, for purging; one who comes here must suffer, till he becomes perfectly pure. Even when the universal Master comes to play with us here He submits to this law. – But everything on it has been designed to give us happiness. The reason why in spite of it we get gloomy, is that we forget the Lord. If we can remember Him, we find nothing but unbroken bliss , not even a shadow of discomfort exists here. It is a sin to think of misery within the kingdom of the Lord, it is absolutely impossible.
Time is like a scroll, actions are the parts of a play written on it, while we are the players. One is to act exactly and only to that extent as is written on this scroll. The manager of this playhouse – the Lord – is watching the play and maintains its tempo by applauding some and scolding others.
As no one can prognosticate the actual moment of parturition so no one can exactly say when this material body will be expelled from its invisible encasement. Incarnation and dissolution are just the same. There is not the least difference between them. Only after death do we get real life. Then we resume our onward march. It is most important what we think in the last moments of our life for that determines our next life. Can a person who never took Lord’s Name, never had faith in Him, never remembered Him, suddenly remember Him in the hour of death? May we repeat His Name always, then, in that last moment, we will naturally think of Him and His Prema.
Srimad Bhagavatam sais:
“A soul constantly reflecting upon objects of enjoyments becomes never free from the bondage of the present existence. Therefore forsake all intimacy and selfish ideas regarding the body by spiritual knowledge. Have no desires. Spiritual knowledge removes every possibility of committing actions out of ignorance. You are a soul, full of effulgence, unborn, immeasurable, identical with consciousness, unparalleled, unique.”
Brahma Samhita: “Lord Krishna burns off the Karma of those who have totally surrendered to Him”
The Karmic law requires that every human wish finds ultimately fulfilment. Desire is the chain that binds man to the Karmic wheel, but what has been done, can be undone. Work incessantly but without expectation of fruits or anticipation of rewards. One has to be free from greed, lust, anger, egoism; then only it becomes useful work. To worry that a thing is not being done right, is for Him to judge, whose work it is. Be determined to do every behest of His even like a coolie and you are sure to be successful and gratified.
When the egoistic feelings of I and Mine come in, the law of Karma begins to operate. As soon as the Ego comes in, God is forgotten. Never forget your true Self, your real existence is in God; and all that you claim as your own, belongs to Him. Those who struggle and cling to this unreal, ever changing world thinking it is real have to suffer endless troubles and miseries.
Once Lord Haranath was asked by a devotee “can the act for which I have taken this form be annihilated by the Lord’s mercy and how much helps Name repetition?”
Lord gave a wonderful simile to make it clear:
Two persons fell into the ocean of Samsara (the cycle of birth, death, rebirth, also this world) .By the side of one is a boat, that being the only difference. The one with a boat near him swims fearlessly, knowing, that the boatman (the Lord) will lift him out if needed, whereas the other one can only see deep water everywhere, no shore, no rescuing boat. How can he get peace or happiness? Hopelessness overtakes him. See, whether there is any benefit by taking shelter in the Lord. The one who has surrendered to the Lord will succeed one day or the other. The Lord will free him, he will only have to reap the Karmaphal for this life and the accumulated actions for the lives to come will be annihilated.”
What indeed can be a greater delight than to consume the body in the work of Him who gave it, and to love Him with the whole heart and soul in utter self-forgetfulness? When all activities are dedicated to the Lord’s service then the actions which caused bondage become the destroyers of the tree of Karma.
Real religion means to know the Lord, our relationship with Him and ultimately our destination after leaving this material body. For those who don’t have faith in God and think that they are the ones, who act, there is no escape from the grip of Karma. We have no works of our own – all works belong to Him, the sole Master of the universe.
There is danger in delay, may we not fritter away the precious time in any way, may we always feel His presence, have Him in mind, immersed in love for Him, immersed in His Name every moment of our life.
By Ruth Baur ( Germany )
One of the laws is the law of Cause and Effect or the law of Karma. The message of this law has to be well understood as it is very, very important: ” this life of yours is the effect of your past actions and thinking. Beware of your present actions, for they will determine your future. If you do good, think good, you will be rewarded accordingly, if you commit mistakes or evil actions they will return to you with equal strength. As you sow, so you shall reap. We are ourselves the instigators of the causes of whatever effects are now prevalent in our life. We created it by our own actions. What will be, must be. We have to suffer the consequences of our past deeds, it cannot be otherwise. Why therefore wasting our time in fruitless cares?
None is responsible for the actions of others, everyone has come for his own particular work which is fixed before he is borne. This he has to do and get his wages according to his performance. Whoever is entrusted the task of governing, is himself the governed, it lies in his own hands. We stand and fall by our own actions.
The human bodies have been formed according to their own deeds. They take their birth as per the fruits of past Karmas, some fruit (Karmaphal) give joy, some sorrow and will be enjoyed or suffered at different times. The plants (actions, thoughts) reared by us grow into a beautiful garden or a jungle of thorns. We are not only harming others by injuring or willing but just by feeling angry, by acting greedily or selfish towards them. This triggers the same negative feelings in them. The power of thought is 10million times stronger than that of action. The harm that can be done to the world by evil thought is much greater than that caused by evil action. We get back enjoyments as we give to others. If we attain a high position we often judge wrongly, forgetting when we wounded the feelings of other people today, that we shall have to suffer in the same way tomorrow. When the day of suffering comes at last, we begin to repent – too late! What is to happen will surely happen – that can never be reversed by any attempt. Karmaphal is inevitable. Should we not rather think of how to avoid falling in future again under the clutches of this stern and inviolable law? –
What man has done, he can undo. For example: If you drink poison, whether you wish it or not, it will have its effect; similarly nectar. In order to nullify the effect of poison an anti-venum has to be administered. Similarly through repentance (Prayashit) the effect of bad deeds can be nullified to a great extent.
By suffering one can atone for past Karmas but cannot put a stop to fresh Karmas just as dirt cannot be removed by dirt. Special water is required to wash it off . The only sacred water is the Name of the Lord. As man cannot get unalloyed devotion at once in the heart, the Lord gave us His powerful sweet Name. In it lies the alchemy. It turns Kama into Prema. Name is the best net to catch Him. The closer and stronger we weave its meshes the more effective it becomes to catch the Illusive One. When Maya finds that we repeat only God’s Name, asking for nothing else, then out of compassion She will take us to His kingdom, but as long as we are materialistic and live forgetful of the Lord, She guides us and gives Her directions.-
Another way to be freed from the grip of Karma is to act as an agent, as an instrument. Lord Haranath explained this by telling this story: “You see me now smoking this pipe. If it is suddenly found in your pocket, all will hold you responsible for being the smoker, but you say, that the pipe has been given to you and you only kept it in your care. Then no blame comes to you. So, if you act as per the Lord’s wish you are only an instrument and the Karmaphal is left to Him. You are dedicating or renouncing your Karmaphal to the Lord which is Karmaphal Tyaga or renunciation. Our duty is to work but not to accept the fruits thereof. Work, but never desire its fruits ,for as long as there is thirst for the fruits of action, one will have to take birth again and again. Expecting fruits brings bondage, renouncing them purifies the heart , brings in its wake Jnana of the Self and frees from the rounds of births and deaths.
The wise man defeats his past by transferring his allegiance from creation to the Creator, who is in His all-pervading universal form watching our movements at all times. Surrender all Karmas at His feet and find relief. Through total surrender to the Lord we come under His influence and protection. Maya will no longer affect us. As our love and faith grows, as we surrender mind, ego, body totally, the Lord will destroy the Ego, which separates us from Him. For a true devotee every work, divine or ordinary, is a sacred offering, an expression of his love for the Lord. He is full of humbleness and realizes his own shortcomings. He will not take any credit on himself but sees everywhere Lord’s grace. If we really want to get Him, we must abjure self-enjoyment and learn to be full of joy and Prema Rasa.
The earth is a place of examination, for purging; one who comes here must suffer, till he becomes perfectly pure. Even when the universal Master comes to play with us here He submits to this law. – But everything on it has been designed to give us happiness. The reason why in spite of it we get gloomy, is that we forget the Lord. If we can remember Him, we find nothing but unbroken bliss , not even a shadow of discomfort exists here. It is a sin to think of misery within the kingdom of the Lord, it is absolutely impossible.
Time is like a scroll, actions are the parts of a play written on it, while we are the players. One is to act exactly and only to that extent as is written on this scroll. The manager of this playhouse – the Lord – is watching the play and maintains its tempo by applauding some and scolding others.
As no one can prognosticate the actual moment of parturition so no one can exactly say when this material body will be expelled from its invisible encasement. Incarnation and dissolution are just the same. There is not the least difference between them. Only after death do we get real life. Then we resume our onward march. It is most important what we think in the last moments of our life for that determines our next life. Can a person who never took Lord’s Name, never had faith in Him, never remembered Him, suddenly remember Him in the hour of death? May we repeat His Name always, then, in that last moment, we will naturally think of Him and His Prema.
Srimad Bhagavatam sais:
“A soul constantly reflecting upon objects of enjoyments becomes never free from the bondage of the present existence. Therefore forsake all intimacy and selfish ideas regarding the body by spiritual knowledge. Have no desires. Spiritual knowledge removes every possibility of committing actions out of ignorance. You are a soul, full of effulgence, unborn, immeasurable, identical with consciousness, unparalleled, unique.”
Brahma Samhita: “Lord Krishna burns off the Karma of those who have totally surrendered to Him”
The Karmic law requires that every human wish finds ultimately fulfilment. Desire is the chain that binds man to the Karmic wheel, but what has been done, can be undone. Work incessantly but without expectation of fruits or anticipation of rewards. One has to be free from greed, lust, anger, egoism; then only it becomes useful work. To worry that a thing is not being done right, is for Him to judge, whose work it is. Be determined to do every behest of His even like a coolie and you are sure to be successful and gratified.
When the egoistic feelings of I and Mine come in, the law of Karma begins to operate. As soon as the Ego comes in, God is forgotten. Never forget your true Self, your real existence is in God; and all that you claim as your own, belongs to Him. Those who struggle and cling to this unreal, ever changing world thinking it is real have to suffer endless troubles and miseries.
Once Lord Haranath was asked by a devotee “can the act for which I have taken this form be annihilated by the Lord’s mercy and how much helps Name repetition?”
Lord gave a wonderful simile to make it clear:
Two persons fell into the ocean of Samsara (the cycle of birth, death, rebirth, also this world) .By the side of one is a boat, that being the only difference. The one with a boat near him swims fearlessly, knowing, that the boatman (the Lord) will lift him out if needed, whereas the other one can only see deep water everywhere, no shore, no rescuing boat. How can he get peace or happiness? Hopelessness overtakes him. See, whether there is any benefit by taking shelter in the Lord. The one who has surrendered to the Lord will succeed one day or the other. The Lord will free him, he will only have to reap the Karmaphal for this life and the accumulated actions for the lives to come will be annihilated.”
What indeed can be a greater delight than to consume the body in the work of Him who gave it, and to love Him with the whole heart and soul in utter self-forgetfulness? When all activities are dedicated to the Lord’s service then the actions which caused bondage become the destroyers of the tree of Karma.
Real religion means to know the Lord, our relationship with Him and ultimately our destination after leaving this material body. For those who don’t have faith in God and think that they are the ones, who act, there is no escape from the grip of Karma. We have no works of our own – all works belong to Him, the sole Master of the universe.
There is danger in delay, may we not fritter away the precious time in any way, may we always feel His presence, have Him in mind, immersed in love for Him, immersed in His Name every moment of our life.
By Ruth Baur ( Germany )
