Ancient Indians – Satya Samhita

Yesterday, I got my Veda Guru, Kunda Miss, alone for Yoga class. Then I just plied her with topics that I had been thinking about for confirmation, clarifications and answers.

A spoonful of Kartrutva is an ocean of misery. 

My guru firmly believes that God is the kartA (doer) and she is always in a peaceful bliss.

At this time, I have understood  that the only way for me to be peaceful is to believe that Bhagwan is the kartA. Even if I accept a grain of kartRtva, then I get all excited about doing “the right thing”, “the valuable thing”, “on time, within budget and to a high quality with all the interests of the stakeholders preserved”. Given that I am this tiny me and the universe and its forces  are so vast, the chances that I can do even a tiny task “successfully and without stress” are very small.

 The Isa Vasya Upanishad tells us that everything in the world is happens as per the will of Is’a, and we should protect ourselves by our detachment. It says that other than this there is no other way. evam tvayi na anyathA tE asti : There is no other way – to peace, to non stickiness of karma, than renunciation of the ideal of control and the recognition that the world moves as per the Will of the Is’a.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that, our right is to Karma alone and not to its results and we should not be attached to the same. Krishna tells us that He, the Brahman, the Purusha is the doer.

Karma Phala Prada Bhagwan :

Suppose you plant a seed and water it. It does not mean you will get a tree and that you get to eat its fruit. It is Bhagwan who decides whether you get the results and when. So the Ancient Indian Way is that we make our effort and then pray Bhagwan to ‘please give us a bountiful harvest’. It is my observation that He (She/It), listens to our heartfelt needs and prayers and grants our wishes. Guruji says, that there are some prayers that Bhagwan may choose not to grant. I think Bhagwan listens to all of our prayers and answers them. Always in a far better way than the what we specifically asked for.

Effort and Prayer :

In western societies and richer classes it looks like there is very little that humans cannot accomplish and there is a strong sense of kartRtva as well as of stress.

In Indian and African societies and among the poorer, rural, as well as tribal classes and dependent women, it feels like there is very little that humans can accomplish without divine intervention and support. There is very little sense of kartrutva, less stress and high happiness indexes have been measured.

Even if I want to do so simple a thing as wash my clothes, the water distribution system, electricity distribution system, the detergent distribution system, availability of ‘washing machine slot’ OR physical energy and absence of back pain to wash clothes by hand, the clouds and the rain.. so many things have to co-operate and make it feasible. 

I (manas) have always and increasingly felt that things happen by sankalpa or will. I have always held that prayer strengthens sankalpa and that is how it works. I have understood prayer as a negotiation channel between the manas and Reality, the tat, the Atman, the brahman. Today I think that when effort aids prayer, sankalpa becomes even stronger.

When I (manas) pray for a fruit and I (deha) plant a seed and water it, the Atman can sense that my manas is truly serious about what it wants. It is a dRDha sankalpam. Firm will. If  I can organise other people into this prayer and effort, the sankalpa is further strengthened. At a certain level of sankalpa, Reality caves in to the my wish (the desire of my manas).

Parasara, the father of Veda Vyasa वेद व्यास,  and the grandson of  Vasishtha, is the author of  Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra, a definitive treatise on Hindu Predictive Astrology, quoted and followed by almost all Hindu Astrologers. He is also the author of Parasara Smriti where he says : “Only by effort are tasks  accomplished and not by desires (chariots of the mind). As a  deer doesn’t enter the mouth of a sleeping lion .” I think we can take prayer as one of the efforts that could be made and understand that a manas which has a desire, should not rely on fate alone to deliver it’s wish. udyamEnaiva siddhyanti kAryANi na manorathaih, na hi suptasya simhasya pravis’anti mukhE mRgAh!

Eternal jIvAs and karma bandhAs :

My father often told me a story  that illustrated that, a child was born to a parent to repay what was owed to the parent. And that if you want that bond to last all your life, never accept anything from your child.. till your very end when you can’t help it. Guruji says that every relationship is a two way debt. So, I think that implies, if you want your relationships with some nice people to last, then take as little as possible from them over as long as period as possible. Take too much, too fast and the relationship is over. 

So if someone stole your wallet maybe you owed him/her that money from a previous birth? If our politicians are amassing money at the expense of the people, either they are amassing a HUGE kArmic debt or we are paying off some old karmic debt. It is interesting to contemplate the previous and future births of some of them  :)  !

It feels very nice for me to think that all the people I love are eternal. That they have always been there and they all always will be there for all time, as Krishna tells Arjuna अर्जुन in the Gita. And that by doing things nice for them our relationships can last over so many births.

I wonder whose RNa, debt, I am paying back by writing all this every day. Is there a karmAnubandha with my readers? As I was writing this post someone left me a comment on some other post saying that I was repaying my RSi RNam by writing. The act of learning and teaching, repays our RNam to our RSis and gurus. 

grahAs and karma and karta : 

Sometimes when people speak, their face and tone changes and it is as if someone else is speaking through them, it is out of character. I generally think that it is the graha of that period speaking through that person and think quietly of Devi, to dispel any bad effects.

My grandfather said that it is our own vasanas from a previous birth that impel us to do things at certain times and places. I think that if you can pause and question who is it that is doing this and wants this done, then you can recognise the graha. I understand the das’a or period of  a graha as an inner drive, a manifestation of our past karma, that pushes us to do something now. If you pause and recognise it you can actually grow strong and overcome that tendency. My grandfather said that if it was a good impulse like generosity – we should do it at once and not think about it, we might not feel like doing it later. If it is a bad impulse then we should pause, think and resist it.

The Gita says that it is the Is’A in us, who impels us to do everything from the inside. If we recognise that we are not the kartA, and recognise who is the kartA, then we don’t collect any karmons, any karma bandhAs, bonds. Since bhagavAn is karma phala prada, and since we cannot get all karma phalAs at once, He gives them according to times which we recognise and name as graha das’as. Then some people perceive the grahAs (or other people) as the kArakAs and try to please them to overcome the pain during that period.

There is no kAraka other than your karma and no karma if you recognise the real and correct karta.

By recognising the puruSa as the karta, you are free. From this freedom comes peace, from this peace comes knowledge, truth, bliss and hopefully a chance to see Bhagwan with your eyes (bhagavat sAkSAtkAra)!

This is the discussion as I understood and remembered it. I hope it helps.

Jai Kunda Miss!

The same sentiment is expressed in simple words (telugu) and lovely tune… the father tells his daughter that the world is a play and a song of dolls (magical, illusory!)

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