THE THREE KINDS OF KARMA
Sanchita, Prarabdha and Agami
Karma is of three kinds, viz., Sanchita (accumulated works), Prarabdha (fructifying works)
and Kriyamana or Agami (current works). Sanchita is all the accumulated Karmas of the past. Part
of it is seen in the character of man, in his tendencies and aptitudes, capacities, inclinations and
desires, etc. Tendencies come from this. Prarabdha is that portion of the past Karma which is
responsible for the present body. That portion of the Sanchita Karma which influences human life
in the present incarnation is called Prarabdha. It is ripe for reaping. It cannot be avoided or changed.
It is only exhausted by being experienced. You pay your past debts. Prarabdha Karma is that which
has begun and is actually bearing fruit. It is selected out of the mass of the Sanchita Karma.
Kriyamana is that Karma which is now being made for the future. It is also called Agami or
Vartamana.
In Vedantic literature, there is a beautiful analogy. The bowman has already sent an arrow
and it has left his hands. He cannot recall it. He is about to shoot another arrow. The bundle of
arrows in the quiver on his back is the Sanchita; the arrow he has shot is Prarabdha; and the arrow
which he is about to shoot from his bow is Agami. Of these, he has perfect control over the Sanchita
and the Agami, but he must surely work out his Prarabdha. The past which has begun to take effect
he has to experience.
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HINDU TENETS
There is another beautiful analogy also. The granary represents the Sanchita Karma; that
portion taken from the granary and put in the shop for future daily sale corresponds to Agami; that
which is sold daily represents Prarabdha.
The whole lot of Sanchita Karma is destroyed by attaining Knowledge of Brahman or the
Eternal. It can be greatly modified by entertaining lofty, divine thoughts, and doing virtuous
actions. Agami Karma can be destroyed by expiatory rites or Prayaschitta; and by removing the
idea of agency through Nimitta Bhava (attitude that one is an instrument in the hands of God) and
Sakshi Bhava (attitude that one is silent witness of the actions of the senses and of the mind).
THE SUPREMACY OF FREE-WILL
You are the master of your own fate. You are the architect of your own fortune. You are
responsible for what you suffer. You are responsible for your present state. If you are happy, it has
been your own making. If you are miserable, it has also been your own making. Every action bears a
fruit sooner or later. A virtuous action produces pleasure as its effect. An evil deed causes pain.
You have no Bhoga-Svatantrya (freedom to determine the result of action), but you have
Karma-Svatantrya (freedom to determine the course of action). That is the reason why the Lord
Krishna says: “Karmanyeva Adhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana—Thy business is with the
action only, never with its fruits.” Janaka and others attained to perfection by action. You can
change your character, your thoughts and desires. Man’s will is ever free. Through selfishness his
will has become impure. He can render his will pure, strong and dynamic by getting rid of his base
desires, and likes and dislikes. Every soul is like a husbandman who has got a plot of land. The
acreage, the nature of the soil, the conditions of weather are all predetermined. But the husbandman
is quite at liberty to till the earth, manure it and get good crops, or to allow it to remain as a waste
land.
What you are now at present is the result of what you thought and did in the past. What you
shall be in the future will be the result of what you think and do now. You find an environment
which is best suited to the tendencies you acquired in a former life. You can create better conditions
for the future. You can make your Karma what you choose. You can rise to a very high state of
perfection. You can become an Indra or you may become a perfect Yogin. You can change your
character, thoughts and actions. Therefore Bhishma and Vasishtha have placed Purushartha or
exertion, above destiny.
A boatman without oars, rudder and sails is carried away helplessly by the winds and
currents; but a clever boatman with oars, sails and rudder, ably directs the boat in any direction he
likes and reaches the other shore safely. Even so, he who knows the Laws of Nature—the law of
thought, the law of Karma, the law of cause and effect—can sail fearlessly in this ocean of Samsara
and reach the other shore of fearlessness and immortality quite safely. He will utilise the helping
forces to his best advantage and neutralise the opposing forces skilfully, with the help of the
knowledge of the Laws. Knowledge is a torch-light. Hence, knowledge is absolutely indispensable.
Ignorance is the greatest sin. An ignorant man becomes a victim or a slave of nature.
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ALL ABOUT HINDUISM
THE GLORY OF SELFLESS WORK
Selfish Karma leads you to rebirth and rebirth generates new Karma while working off the
old. Get rid of Karma if you wish to get rid of the miseries of rebirth. Selfless work will not bind
you. It will purify your heart and lead to the descent of the divine light and grace. Understand the
Law of Karma and the law of cause and effect. Think rightly. Act nobly. Meditate regularly and
attain eternal bliss and immortality.
THE DOCTRINE OF REINCARNATION
The doctrine of reincarnation or transmigration of souls is a fundamental tenet of Hinduism.
The word reincarnation literally means embodiment again, coming again into a physical body. The
individual soul takes again a fleshy covering. The word transmigration means passing from one
place to another—passing into a new body.
The Sanskrit term Samsara is derived from the Sanskrit root Sr, which means ‘to pass’. The
prefix Sam means ‘intensely’. The individual soul passes repeatedly through this world and other
subtle higher worlds. This repeated passing of souls—Samsriti—is what is really meant by the term
Samsara.
Samsara exists in order that the individual soul may learn to realise itself.
Man contains within himself infinite possibilities. The magazine of power and wisdom is
within him. He has to unfold the divinity within. This is the object of living and dying.
ENUNCIATION OF THE DOCTRINE IN THE HINDU SCRIPTURES
You will not cease to exist after death. Before this birth, you have passed through countless
lives. The Lord Krishna says in the Gita: “O Arjuna, both you and I have had many births before
this; only I know them all, while you do not. Birth is inevitably followed by death, and death by
rebirth. As aman casting off worn-out garments taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, casting
off worn-out bodies, entereth into others that are new.”
The Upanishads also declare: “Just as a caterpillar which has come to the top of a blade of
grass, draws itself over to a new blade, so also does the soul draw itself over to a new body, after it
has put aside its old body” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad). “Just as a goldsmith, having taken a piece
of gold, makes another form, new and more beautiful, so also, verily the Atman having cast off this
body and having put away Avidya or ignorance, makes another new and more beautiful form”
(Brihadaranyaka Upanishad). “Like corn, does a mortal ripen; like corn, does he spring to life
again” (Kathopanishad).
KARMA AND REBIRTH
The doctrine of rebirth is a corollary to the Law of Karma. The differences of disposition
that are found between one individual and another must be due to their respective past actions. Past
action implies past birth. Further, all your Karmas cannot certainly bear fruit in this life. Therefore,
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HINDU TENETS
there must be another birth for enjoying the remaining actions. Each soul has a series of births and
deaths. Births and deaths will continue till you attain Knowledge of the Imperishable.
Good Karmas lead to incarnation into higher spheres and bad Karmas into lower. By virtue
is obtained ascent to higher planes and by vice, descent to the lower. From wisdom results
beatitude, and bondage from the reverse. So long as Karmas—whether good or bad—are not
exhausted, men do not attain Moksha or the final emancipation even in hundreds of Kalpas. Both
good and bad Karmas bind tight the Jiva in their chains. One is a chain of gold and the other is that of
iron. Moksha cannot be attained by man, so long as Knowledge of the Eternal is not attained.
PROOFS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF PREVIOUS BIRTHS
A new-born child manifests marks of joy, fear and grief. This is inexplicable unless we
suppose that the child, perceiving certain things in this life, remembers the corresponding things of
the past life. The things which used to excite joy, fear and grief in the past life, continue to do so in
this life. The memory of the past proves the previous birth, as well as the existence of the soul.
A child, just born, drinks the breast of its mother through the remembrance that it did so in
the previous life, as ameans of satisfying hunger. The child’s desire for milk in this life is caused by
the remembrance of its experience in the previous life. This proves that the child’s soul, though it
has abandoned a previous body and has taken on a new one, remembers the experiences of the
previous body.
You do not come into the world in total forgetfulness and in utter darkness. You are born
with certain memories and habits acquired in the previous birth. Desires take their origin from
previous experiences. We find that none is born without desire. Every being is born with some
desires which are associated with the things enjoyed by him in the past life. The desires prove the
existence of his soul in previous lives.
PASSAGE OF THE SOUL BETWEEN DEATH AND REBIRTH
The soul migrates with the astral body, or Sukshma-Sarira or Linga-Deha. This astral body
is made up of nineteen Tattvas or principles, viz., five organs of action, five organs of knowledge,
five Pranas, mind, intellect, Chitta (the subconscious), and Ahankara or egoism. This subtle body
carries with i