न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत् ।
कार्यते ह्यवशः कर्म सर्वः प्रकृतिजैर्गुणैः ॥३-५॥
Transliteration:
Lord Krishna tells Arjuna in explicit terms that none could forego workings of karma, no matter what! By remaining inactive, by act of renunciation… why could not human beings dissuade from workings of karma! As per Lord Krishna… karma was inbuilt into psyche of all living beings. One could never escape clutches of karma, no matter what one did! As per Lord Krishna, karma was inherent in all living beings from beginning of life. How?
As detailed in sermon of Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna… we were primarily a soul atman, the spirit within that started its journey when God Almighty (Brahman in Hinduism) exploded self with a big bang. In its cosmic sojourn every soul atman, the consciousness within gained impurities similar as a rolling ball gathers moss! To cleanse self of dross impurities within started cosmic life cycle of every soul atman.
Unless human beings indulged in karma… we could not negate karma! It was only by indulgence in karma… travelers of spirituality succeeded in negating karma slowly step-by-step. Moment complete dross impurities within a soul atman removed forever, the need for a soul atman to manifest a new body now ceased to exist. In absence of dross impurities within… the need for a soul atman to work out its karma also ceased to exist!
Until human beings reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana in Hinduism)… cycle of karma continues unabated! As detailed in Hinduism scriptures we are primarily governed by prakriti (material nature)… the outer covering, the body! As long as requirement of body exists… human beings kept indulging in karma! Even while sleeping… our indulgence in karma never stopped! Every single thought precipitated into an act of karma.
Every second thousands of thoughts passed through our brain incessantly. Stopping flow of thoughts to our brain was not possible for most human beings. Only a very accomplished sage could accomplish this feat. The purpose of all sacred scriptures always was… annihilation of karma in entirety! By travelling path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom), through contemplation on God Almighty, by practicing absolute celibacy human beings slowly but steadfastly reduced dross impurities within a soul atman!
Moment dross impurities within a soul atman negated to zero, one became an enlightened one… a bodhi, a Jina… a Mahavira forever! Right from first manifestation to last… effort of every soul atman remained negation of dross impurities within forever. It was only by travelling path of pure spirituality human beings finally succeed in reaching stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) forever. Undertaking spiritual journey truly was noble, more so for our soul atman within!
The Explanation:
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 3 verse 5 Lord Krishna cites reasons why karma could not be excluded from life of human beings! As long as one was live, karma was an integral part of life! Just by remaining idle, renouncing act of karma one did not absolve self from bondages of karma ever. Precepts of spirituality including karma were deeply ingrained into our psyche. We had to understand the hidden underlying subtleties of spirituality before understanding more on karma.
One indulged in karma as it was prompted by our soul atman, the consciousness within! No human being of its own indulged in karma. For a soul atman to remove dross impurities within… human beings indulging in karma was necessitated by God Almighty. Just as one KG of pure gold sandwiched in hundred KG lump of gold ore could not extract self of its own and requires requisite mining machinery and processes… a soul atman also requires undergoing karma to regain its lost original pure prime pristine primordial form forever.
In absence of karma… the entire cosmic system would become stagnant, decay and die! Karma was that inherent ingredient of cosmic system that facilitated movement of life from one manifestation to another, body after body! At the time of death of physical body, closing balance of life becomes opening balance for next manifestation. If the closing balance of life demands our manifesting new form in the house of a laborer, we just could not be born a Prince! The law of karma says… as we sow so shall we reap, nothing less or more!
No sooner a soul atman, the consciousness within manifests a body… karma starts its working! It is only through a cycle of 8.4 million manifestations… a soul atman, the spirit within finally reached cosmic end of life… 8.4 millionth manifestation! This simply indicates process of karma entails a long journey for a soul atman, the spirit within! The process of removal of dross impurities within a soul atman, the consciousness within was a very slow but steadfast process! Only a serious seeker of spirituality succeeds in dismantling karma at a faster pace.
Removal of dross impurities within a soul atman, the spirit within was not possible through path of religion (path of rituals). Instead of reducing dross impurities within, by indulging in religious rituals… human beings rather prolonged earthly journey for a soul atman, the spirit within! Mesmerized by glare of worldly riches when human beings pursued earthly goals of life… they were never after reducing dross impurities within their soul atman, the consciousness within. Dominated by a bloated ego, travelers of religious path gloated in worldly riches abound!
As per Lord Krishna… every single thought precipitates into an act of karma. Every second thousands of thoughts percolated through our brain. We had absolutely no control on flow of these incessant thoughts. By indulging in right karma, by indulging in yoga meditation… the right way human beings slowly but successfully reduced dross impurities within their soul atman, the spirit within! Life in cosmic domain was not governed by rhetoric. We had to indulge in good karma, positive karma all the time to reach God in present life.
For neutralizing bad karma, negative karma… our indulgence in good karma, positive karma all the time was an absolute must! In the sermon of Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says, after death of present body what transfers to next life was residual balance of karma of present manifestation! Nothing physical or worldly riches could be carried to next life. If residual balance of karma played such a dominant role, why not indulge in good karma, positive karma all the time! Why at all indulge in bad karma and mar our present and future!
Doctrine of reincarnation was infallible part of spiritual path. Unless a soul atman reincarnated… life could not proceed ahead in cosmic life cycle. Believing in doctrine of reincarnation was an absolute must if we desire understanding crux of karma. In absence of our belief in world of souls atmans, theory of reincarnation… nothing on path of pure spirituality could ever be understood. The world of prakriti, material manifestation can only be understood by understanding definition of soul atman, reincarnation and karma in entirety.
It was ordained by God Almighty that living beings must not remain inactive for long. For living beings to indulge in action, laws of karma were stipulated by God Almighty. If we look at karma index, enlightened beings stood at level 99 while human beings anywhere between zero and 99! At number hundred, an enlightened being finally left mortal frame to gain salvation moksha forever. Number hundred always belonged to God Almighty… the domain of God Almighty; abode of God Almighty (kingdom of God)… termed Vaikuntha in Hinduism, a point of no return!
Our indulgence in karma was based on our invocation of thoughts! It has rightly been said, every single human being was but sum total of ones thoughts at a given moment of time! Truly… thought process was the communication link between living beings and God Almighty. By controlling five senses and mind human beings slowly developed total control over thinking process. Comes a stage when human beings finally reached stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness)… when not a single thought entered our brain uninvoked.
The stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi can only be reached after negating karma to zero. In absence of dross impurities within, a pure soul atman finally establishes communion with God Almighty every second of life. Human beings who did not believe in existence of a soul atman failed to realize that no human being would ever indulge in karma if one was not prompted to do so from within. It is presence of ego (Aham in Hinduism) within human beings that prompted one to act. Every single living being on mother earth indulged in karma because of presence of ego (Aham).
For eradicating karma… indulgence in karma was the only path, says Lord Krishna! Lord Krishna advising Arjuna to indulge in karma was the necessity of that time. Unless Arjuna agreed to fight his arch enemies Kauravas, re-establishment of Dharma (righteousness) was not possible. If Arjuna thought non-indulgence in karma would not incur him sin… he was wrong! Arjuna was directly responsible for welfare of entire kingdom. By refusing to indulge in karma… he was only feigning ignorance in matters spiritual. As sermon of Bhagavad Gita progressed further… Arjuna realized efficacy of indulging in karma.
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – May 19, 2013
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