By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
Karma is the most used and often misunderstood word. Karma is action. Action could be latent, could be in the form of tendency, could be a future happening.
And accordingly, there are three types of karma – Prarabdha, Sanchita and Agami. Prarabdha means the action that is already manifesting and yielding its effect right now. You cannot avoid it or change it as it is already happening. On the other hand, Sanchita karma is the `gathered up’, or `piled up’ karma. It is latent or manifested in the form of a tendency.
An impression in the mind is a latent action. Sanchita karma can be burned off, changed by spiritual practices before it becomes manifest. And finally, Agami literally means `not come’. Agami karma is the karma that has not yet come, one that will take effect in the future. If you commit a crime, you may not get caught today, but will live with the possibility that one day you may get caught. This is the future karma of the action.
Certain impressions, strong impressions in the mind, remain and they form the future karma. Animals have got only Prarabdha karma. Nature runs them so they don’t accumulate a future karma. As a human being, this is impossible because our mind gets impressions.
Karma is not a grain written on rock; it is fluid. And karma is always bound by time, because every action has only a limited reaction, not infinite. Suppose someone commits a crime, they get imprisonment in jail. That too, there is a time limit: 5 years, 10 years, 20 years.
So, every karma has only a limited sphere of its effect, good or bad. Every habit is a sort of karma. There is one thing that can erase the karma: Gyana – awareness, knowledge. Gyana has the strength to dissolve and destroy any karma. That frees you because knowledge is Divinity, i.e the totality of existence, and when you live in knowledge and become aware of a tendency in you, it will help to overcome tendency.
sanjib ..can u more simplify guruji’s words..on knowledge can erase karma… i like it but cud not understand it thoroughly…how knowledge can erase karma…
Very very true…………..
hey sanjib-i feel even i do not understand the meaning of karma basically–
Action Is Neither Good or Bad, But the Reaction tends to be Good or Bad.
So true Sanjib.
Gyan Agni Can Destroy{burn} any karma as Said By the Master.
This is my view to Rekha’s query:
Frist of all you should congratulate youself for having this querry! 7 billion people in the world and you are one of the very few ones in them who really have the interest to higher knowledge!
As Guruji says “There is one thing that can erase the karma: Gyana”. Gyana – awareness, Knowledge. Think of life as a flowing water. When the water is stagnent, like in a pond, it is very easy to pollute it. What ever we throw in it, remains there. But it is different in the case of a river. You can never pollute a flowing river as what ever thrown at it, it simply gets washed away and is always clean. Our life and karma are like that.
If the mind is stagnant, if will aquaire more karma, as one will have more impressions in the mind and it is the impressions in the mind which create an action and that becomes a karma. When self knowledge is raised, it also raises the awareness. Inappropriate actions happen due to ignorance or lack of awareness. And hence knowledge not only has the capability to dissolve the past karmas but also prevent new karmas from happening too. And hence from the ancient times, so much of importance is given to self knowledge. The banks of the river is the body, water in the river is the conciousness, karma is the unwanted aquisition of the river, knowledge is the current which gives the stregnth for the river to flow and grace is the ocean where it merges!
One may also think, then how do I raise this self knowledge which can unburden me of the Karma’s and its fruits?
There are 3 ways to it:
1) Study of the Scriptures: Everyday make it a point to read a little bit of knowledge which guides you towards the self. We are very fortunate that with Sri Sri we have abundance of many wonderful ancient scriptures made easily available to us and very simple to understand. Yoga Vashishtha, Ashtavakra Geeta and many many more. Lack of self knowledge also results in fear and that is another very strong impression in the mind and binds one with many prabdha karma’s too.
2) Company of the Holy: As and when you can keep some company of like minded people. Attending satsangs or even spending time in the company of the wise brings so much knowledge and wisdom. This sheilds us from karmas too.
3) Self effort: Purpose of all knowledge is to take your mind inward. Doing the Sudarshan Kriya, Pranayams, Meditations: our practices make knowledge manifest as experiance. So one must have some discipline of sadhana also in life.
Put together, all the Prarabdha karmas cannot be changed and one has to go through its positive or negative effects, however, through the above three measures the effects of it can be minimised and the Sanchita be removed, and Agami can be prevented.
Jai Gurudev
Dushyant
Wow, Dushyant..what a beautiful explanation….
you know the intention of this site has been to bring together like minded people to freely speak and share uplifting views to help each other grow in a positive and like minded fashion…
the time, effort and thought you put into such an eloquent response will really help a lot of people understand the deeper intricacies of karma and how we can negate its effects…
please do continue to share your wisdom wherever you see fit…..I can assure you, your words are truly appreciated by all…:)
“hi Sanjib…yes i read d Dushyant’s response …he explained so beautifully and made it more simple with examples of river and pond…and three measures to prevent karma..that is satsang,study of scriptures..and self effort…really impressive..Want to thank him n of course YOU…for the efforts and knowledge given to us for our upliftment….”
Hello Dushyant ji.
accept my warm regards n thanx 4 replying to my query n explaining it n making so simple to understand .Really liked d examples u quoted of pond and river..n d three ways u suggested are also amazing..
thank u so much…
Sanjib ..thanx for d efforts n sharing d knowledge for our upliftment..
feeling good after connecting to you….
Very very beautiful knowledge shared by Sanjib and Dushyant…Karma is such a complex subject…seems simple to understand, but doesnt sink in so easily…you have all kinds of questions in the mind..I am sure , there is so much awareness created here to inquire and gain a lot of knowledge..Thanks to all!!!
does karma follow the law of cause and effect….? i guess it does… thats why the equations are npt the same…. it’s so gud to share knowledge…make the theories so lucid and down-to earth…thank you sanjib and dushyant…for simplifying a complex sum:)….. JGD!
I once heard from a liberated soul, if you think you are the doer, you have the karma associated with you, if you dont, it doesn’t,
Simplistic statement but enormously profound and elaborate to live through
[...] Knowledge Can Erase Karma – By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar [...]
JGD!! A v v deep and profound knowledge to be pondered and worked upon.
How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours. ~Wayne Dyer
jai Gurudev,
does the result of a karma depend on the perception of the doer abt the karma,or are there any absolute standards?how far does the intention behind the act become prominent vis a vis the karma itself.also the circumstances,the state of mind of the doer,his options and necessity etc too can create invinite combinations towards the same act..even the society,upbringing all share responsibility towards making a person what he is.
also, a bad act could be inevitable for someother good event to happen..think of a women who may take to prostitution to save the life of her bedridden husband by getting medicine and food..in such a case she could be as great as a devata…right?
also, like the case of a person branded by society as a thief..(for his father being a thief)…ultimately if he takes to robbery as a revenge upon the society, a share of his sins must be shared by society too. we should remember we dont take to such a life because, we have been given a psychologically comfortable position by the society.
pls do clear my doubts. thank you. jai Gurudev.