Talk:Karm, Dharm and Samsāraa:Karm, Dharm and Saṃsāra
By Vishal Agarwal
When we are born, we inherit the samskāra-s of karma done in previous lives. In our present lives, we experience the pleasant and unpleasant results of some past karmas (whether done in past lives or in the present) and accumulate the results of newer karmas that we perform. When the present body dies, Brahman, the witness of our karma-s, causes us to be reborn appropriately in a new, different body. Once again, we experience results of some of our past karmas, and generate new ‘non-ripened’ karmas, causing us to be reborn.
This cycle of birth, death and rebirth has no beginning. Under the influence of our Karma, and the guidance of Brahman, who witnesses our Karma from within our hearts, it continues endlessly. This endless cycle is often compared to a wheel that is rotating endlessly and is called ‘samsāra’ in the Hindu scriptures. [1]Truth of repeated births naturally follows from the science of karma. They are like two sides of the same coin.[2]
‘Saṃsāra’ is a very common word used to describe this world.
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. The 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 realize itself. [3]
Another scholar explains this concept as:
“This migration of the soul into a series of bodies is called samsara or bhava-chakra (wheel of existence). It goes on till the cycle of karma is broken through and the soul attains release consisting in its realization of God.” [4]
Vidyāraṇya Swami (14th century) gives a beautiful analogy to explain how we individuals get trapped in this saṃsāra – a cycle of repeated births and deaths, in his classic, the Panchadashī:
“Like the worms that are carried away in a wild stream from one whirlpool to another, the jiva (soul) is driven from birth to death and from death to birth in a continuous cycle of samsara.” [5]
In this world at any given moment, people are being born and they are also dying. Every moment, the world itself keeps changing and evolving. Therefore, the Universe is sometimes said to be the cosmic wheel of the Supreme Being (Brahmachakra) which is always rotating, to which the Jīvas are tied eternally and keep rotating perpetually as well.
Rishi Shaunaka said to Yudhishthira: A man overcome by impetuous desire is dragged about by desire. Longing arises in him and from that proceeds thirst. Thirst is indeed the most evil thing of all because it constantly deranges men, is pregnant of Adharma, fearsome and has evil as its consequence. For the weak-minded it is difficult to relinquish and while the man ages, it does not age. It is a disease which saps his vigor, but for one who leaves thirst behind there is happiness. Beginningless and endless is this thirst which has gone into men’s bodies. Once arisen, it destroys like that has no origin. Just as kindling is destroyed by a fire which has sprung up of itself, even so does a man whose soul is not perfected perish through his inborn greed…
When a person’s mind is directed towards the objects of all senses, desire springs in him, and he acts towards those objects. Then, pierced by desire ….with the arrows of sense objects, he falls into the fire of greed, as the moth falls because of his desire for light. At last, crazed by his pleasures and meals, he drowns in the insatiable mouth of madness and does not know himself. Thus, in a runaround (samsara), he falls here into womb after womb, spun around like a wheel by ignorance, karma, thirst. He rolls about in creatures, from Brahmā down to the blade of grass, born over and over again, in water, on land, or in the air. Mahābhārata 3.2.33-36, 64-68164
References[edit]
- ↑ Armstrong, Jeffrey (Kavindra Rishi). Karma, the Ancient Science of Cause and Effect. Mandala Publishing, 2007, San Rafael (California).pp. 10-11
- ↑ This view is shared by other Dharmic traditions – Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism. The difference within the Dharmic traditions is that whereas Hindu Dharma and Sikhism believe in Brahman as the overseer of Samsāra, the Jains reject the very existence of Brahman, and the Buddhists feel that there is no need to bring in a Brahman to explain the nature and existence of Samsāra.
- ↑ Swami Sivananda. All About Hinduism. The Divine Life Society, 1993, Tehri-Garhwal (Uttarakhand), India.p. 81
- ↑ Mahadevan, T. M. P. Outlines of Hinduism. Chetana Limited, 1956, Bombay.p. 62
- ↑ Panchadashi of Vidyaranya Swami 1.30, quoted in T. M. P. Mahadevan (1956), p. 63 164 J A B van Buitenen’s translation of the Critical Edition, with slight modifications p. 63