Friday, January 07, 2011

Karma and Runa

Every human is born with certain debts to be fulfilled during the course of his/her life. These debts are dEva RuNa (divine debt), Rishi RuNa (debt to sages), pitr RuNa (parental debt), achArya RuNa (debt to teachers) and bhUta RuNa (societal debt).


It is possible that these debts are a sub set of prArabdha karma; therefore some or all of them may be obligatory for a person to fulfill. These debts are fulfilled by the following karma.

• Nitya karma • Naimittika karma • Nishiddha karma • PrAyaschitta karma • KAmya karma • UpAsana.



The Nitya karma is the obligatory duties required of a person; for example, the sandhyAvandana is expected of brAhmin, kshatriya and vaishya men following initiation. Learning and teaching vEdic chantings (svAdhyAya) may also come under this category - "svAdhyAya pravachanAbhyAm na pramaditayam - don't stray from learning and chanting vEdas"



The most important benefit of Nitya, Naimittika and PrAyaschitta karmas is the cleansing of the mind. The upAsana will help focus the cleansed mind on the object of meditation. It is also our experience that when we are agitated, we cannot focus on any activity.



The value of the NItya karma lies in that it is said to reduce the impact of PrArabdha karma. If the Nitya Karma is not performed, the undesirable fruits will exert with full force. That full effect of prArabdha is called pratyavAya.

Naimittika karma is the required rituals to be performed on special events, like birth of a child, death of a parent, the annual observance of parents' shrAddha etc.

The Nishiddha karma is the prohibited karma which includes homicide, being untruthful, promiscuity and alcohol consumption etc. While the former two are legally and socially prohibited also, the latter two are socially and legally condoned, if not acceptable. However, they are detrimental to spiritual progress and are listed under Nishiddha karma.



PrAyaschitta karma is the rituals performed to reduce the severity of or eliminate the effects of bad or prohibited deeds. PrAya is austerity and chitta is firm resolution; a firm resolution to take up austerity and following thru with it is PrAyaschitta. As an example from our daily life, if one gets a ticket for traffic violation, he or she can decide to go under court supervision (attend a defensive driving class and pay up a small fee), the traffic violation will not be entered into records. This is an example of PrAyaschitta karma.



KAmya karma is the performance of rituals in anticipation ofr specific fruits of action, like to have a progeny - Dasharatha's "putrakAmeshTi yAga" or yajnya performed for rains - varshEshTi etc. Doing SatyanArAyaNa pUja desiring specific results is also of this category. Rituals performed to attain heaven after death is also KAmya karma.



UpAsana is a mind level activity - meditation or japa - focusing on a deity like Sun, Linga (a proxy for Shiva), ShalagrAma (a proxy fro VishNu), SriChakra (a proxy fro shakti). UpAsana is performed to cleanse the mind, to allow for advancement in the quest for Realization. This UpAsana is called SaguNa ( Brahman visualized with a name and form) UpAsana. Advaita posits that Brahman is NirguNa (that is with out name and form). So, how does SaguNa UpAsana supposed to help in the realization of NirguNa Brahman? This is to be understood as a temporary concession to help seekers in the disciplinary activities to cleanse the mind. Cleansing the mind is equivalent to wash out the sense objects and interaction with them from the mind and replacing those thoughts with Brahman. SaguNa Brahman upAsana may therefore be considered as an initial stage of discipline to aid the seeker in help focus his upAsana. Over time, the saguNa upAsana will lead to nirguNa upAsana.

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