Karma: Why Everything You Know About It Is Wrong

by Acharya Prashant

As they say in common usage, the sage takes birth to redeem the world, but that is the language of the world. In the sage’s own language, such an expression does not exist. He will not say that he has come to serve the world or redeem the world or do some favour to the world. He just does what he does. This ‘justness’ is the pinnacle of all spiritual advancement, sahajatā.

He who is wearing chains and working in a way that will load him with more bondages. This is the irreligious fellow.

You see, there are two reasons, two possibilities, two scenarios where you don’t care for the results.

One is because you know that you are absolutely right, so now you have no option left. Therefore, there is no point caring for the results. This is the only thing that you can rightly do, so what is the point in talking or bothering so much about the results? That is one possibility. That is the sāttvika possibility.

He will have to deliberately and stubbornly ignore the results because the results are shrieking to him, ‘You are living a very bad life!’ The moment he pays attention to the results he will have to change, but his deep and unyielding ego refuses to change even while suffering deeply. That is tāmasikta.

What is the definition of the tāmasikta? You are in the wrong place and you don’t even want to leave that place. You are living badly and you are saying, ‘This is what is called the right life.’

That is why the rājasika mind is better than the tāmasika mind. The rājasika mind says, ‘I am not all right; I need to do something to become better. I feel inferior, I feel incomplete; I need to...

deeply oppose this neo-pop spiritual culture of living in the present. I do not want people to not care about the results because not caring for results is all right only if you are a sāttvika mind or if you have transcended the ego. Then it is all right to not care for results.

But if you are a rājasika person or a tāmasika person—as 99.9 per cent of people are—then you need to be very, very conscious of the future and the results of your actions.

That’s the tāmasika mind’s ultimate fantasy: to do what he wants to do and then not bear the consequences. Is that not a great fantasy? ‘I will do what I want to do; I will consume what I want to consume, and I won’t even have to foot the bill!’ The saints are saying the bill will need to be paid—with due interest. Mind the bill!

is a very unfortunate trend these days, living in the now, living in the present.

‘Consume right now, don’t worry about the...

Be very conscious of your action and its results.

here is a formula for you: the result of your action is the exact point your action is coming from; the source of your action is exactly the same as the consequence of your action.

So, watch the consequences of your actions, and you will realize what the source of the action is. If you have done something, just figure out what the net result of that entire activity or episode was, and then you should know that the entire episode happened just for the sake of that particular result. That was your hidden intention.

We are very complicated and deceitful beings. You will never know why you are acting in a particular way because you do not want to admit that to yourself.

But one good way of realizing why you act as you act is to just see the final result of what you are doing. Obviously, you can turn back and say there is nothing called a final result. All right, then look at the intermediate result. It is for the sake of that intermediate result that you are doing what you are doing.

Nothing happens coincidentally in the realm of the ego, for the ego is the doer. The ego do...

So, when you are doing something, rest assured that the output is something that the ego wanted. Even if the output appears shocking, even if you want to claim that it is quite an unintended output or outcome, that unintended outcome is not really unintended. You wanted it. You caused it. But you caused it in a very hidden way, in a very abstruse way ...

And that is one solid reason why you must mind the consequences: because the consequence will...

So, something has been happening with you over the last one month, let’s say, and you narrate the entire story to someone. If that someone is wise, he will ask, ‘All right, what is the net result of all this that has been happening with you?’ And you say, ‘Well, the net result is . . .’ He will say, ‘Okay, I will help you out. Compared to one month back, how have things changed for you right now? What has changed?’ And you will say, ‘All right, now that’s easier to answer. These are the three things that have changed over that last one month.’ Then that someone will tell you, ‘It is with the intention of changing these three things that you have been acting the way you have over the last one month. It is not that your actions have coincidentally brought about this result; it is because you wanted this result deep within, hence you have been acting the way you have been acting. You are just fulfilling your deep desires.’

So, always ask yourself, ‘All this happened ultimately to what result, to what effect, to what end?’ Never ignore the consequences. Never.

Keeping a check on the consequences is a great way to self-reflect. Otherwise, how w...

Unless you know what you desire, how will you k...

You are your desire; you are the quality of your desire.

Because stories are complicated, you know. If you get lost in the details of the stories, you will never come to know the truth. So, keep the story aside, just ask for the conclusion. What is the conclusion? What happened as a result of all this that you are trying to tell me? Ask.

‘Well, you see, then we broke up.’ So, fine. That’s it. This is exactly what you wanted, and for the sake of this result you enacted the entire drama. Maybe not intentionally, just subconsciously, but this is the result that you ultimately wanted anyway.

Be particular about the consequences. That is the reason why the wise ones gave us the principle of karma. What did the principle of karma imply? ‘Oh, you will have to pay up. You can’t go scot-free.’

Living in the now is something very special; only the ones already liberated have the right to live in the now. The others must be very conscious of the future. It is by remaining conscious of the future that you will ultimately get freedom from the future.

It is by being extremely conscious that you will gain freedom from consciousness itself.

If you do not know the actor, will you be able to be free from the actor?

And how will you know the actor? The actor is hidden, subtle; the actor doesn’t have a face. How do you know the actor? By looking at the actions.

But in one’s eyes, his actions are anyway always all right. So, how do you know your actions really? By looking at the results of the actions.

Looking at the results of the actions is one foolproof way to know the actor, and when you know the actor, that g...

Which Actions Must One Never Renounce?

We want to reach the end of wanting. We want completion, fulfillment in such a final way that we are left with nothing to want anymore. That’s the destination.

But the renunciation of obligatory action is not proper. Abandonment of the same from delusion is declared to be tāmasika.

‘Renunciation of obligatory action is not proper.’ What is meant by obligatory action? Is Shri Krishna talking about my social responsibilities or something else?

A more befitting word would be ‘destined action’, not ‘obligatory action’.

It is not quite an obligation; it is the only real option. It is your destiny.

Destiny is the final point for the sake of which we all exist and keep moving.

That’s what all spiritual process is aimed at: a peace, a contentment so absolute that you are left with no trace of incompleteness, bitterness, hope, future, desire. That’s the destiny.

If you are to reach your destiny, then only your destiny can guide you.

Therefore, your destined action is to get rid of your falsenesses. Act in a way, inspired by the Truth, that you hack down the shackles of your falseness. If your destiny is freedom, then you have to act in a way that negates your bondages. That’s what niyata-karma is.

All that you owe to yourself is your freedom. And you heavily owe that to yourself, don’t you? You are indebted to yourself. That’s your obligation if we are to talk the language of obligation at all. That is your only obligation.

Even while performing your so-called daily routine, you have to constantly keep thinking, ‘How are my actions directed towards my liberation?’

See, you cannot stop certain actions. You will get up, you will take a bath, you will brush your teeth, you will have food, you will need some clothes, you will talk to people, you will need sleep, right? All those things are there. The question is: ‘Those things are indispensable, but have I aligned those actions with the greater direction of my liberation?’

you will walk—but which direction are your legs taking you? Being a human being, you will talk—but who is it that you are talking to? Being a human being, you will eat—but how really have you earned your bread? In whose company are you breaking your...

Those are the questions that will decide whether you are doin...

Niyata-karma, I repeat, is not about sticking to a particular code of pre-decided conduct. Niyata-karma is a very lively and dynamic thing. Every moment you have to be alert and conscious; every moment you have to keep asking yourself, ‘This action that I am doing, this decision that I am taking, is it leading me towards liberation, or have ...