52. Facts of Karma Unveiled!!!!!!

Karma is universal law that says every psychological, emotional and physical act how much ever insignificant it is ultimately comes back to us with same impact. There are many misconceptions about Karma. This is an attempt to go into details of it and try to understand Karma better.

Karma is not what we often hear when people in distress tell like: “may be this is my Karma” or “that is his Karma.” The expression like this will symbolize Karma as something bad, which is not true.

Then is Karma our destiny? No, every individual has free will. And no external force can act on our life. If destiny means something expected which is firm and controlled by mystic power then Karma and destiny are not the same. Karma is the after effect of individuals past deeds. In Sanathana Dharma Supreme is not responsible for our destiny. We are the creators of our own destiny by the virtue of past deeds. Past deeds determine the present, and the present deeds decide the future according to the doctrine of Karma. Karma is not the thoughts alone even our words and action are responsible for good, bad or mixed destiny.

Can our prayers to Supreme protect us from the remorse of our bad Karma? No, we have this habit of accusing Supreme. “Why has God done this to me?” or “What did I do to deserve this?” Supreme has no hand in intensifying or diluting our Prarabdha Karma. Prarabdha Karma is like the money that is withdrawn from the account which has to be spent whatever happens. Then what is the meaning of prayer, prayers are meant for us to keep our mind calm so that we don’t accumulate bad Karma in future.

So Karma inherited in the past life cannot be modified??? Yes, we can modify, it is a simple equation of deposits. The Sanchita Karma is like deposits. Here it is still in the account (not encashed) so if we acquired sufficient credit by doing good Karma it may wipe out the effect of bad Karma, the one in the deposit. (Never mistake for the one which is already encashed which has to be spent).

Can Karma be completely wiped out???? Yes it can be wiped off, In Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Sloka 37, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna “Just as blazing fire burns firewood to ashes, true knowledge attained by the grace of God, through a Guru, burns all Karma to ashes.” Here Lord Krishna is specific on the Sanchita Karma (deposit) not Prarabdha Karma, which anyhow will get exhuasted at the end of the indviduals life span.Sanchita can be wiped out only if we do deeds with an atittude of non-doership.

Can astrology cause or dictate Karma? No, astrology is an actual relation between us and the characteristics of the solar system and certain star huddles. But it is not a cause and effect relation. Planets and stars don’t cause or dictate Karma. Their orbital relationships establish proper conditions for Karma to activate which is unavoidable. Then what is the use of doing all the rituals in the name of astrology then? Shear solace for the disturbed mind. Once a person is acquainted with the Law of Karma then he is not worried about the hurdles in life and will not go to correct his astrological status. And for this a strong mind that accepts Law of Karma is needed.


Does past Karma alone can lead to success without any effort???? No, the results of past Karma alone cannot lead to success unless our efforts are utmost. That is why in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna after informing Arjuna that his destiny favors win in the battle advises Arjuna to fight. In Chapter 11 Sloka 33, the Lord Krishna says “Arise, o Arjuna, conquer thy enemies, enjoy the kingdom and win the glory.” Although the impact of an individual's past Karma cannot be underestimated, it is the effort the one must utilize as free will.

So there cannot be free will because the present life is determined by the past Karma????? No again, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, our first Vice-President said “In the game of life, the cards are given to us, we do not have the opportunity to select them, they are traced to our past Karma, but we can throw and pick cards in the play as we please, and do what suit to us and as we play we gain or lose. And that is what free will is.”