karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana
Ma karmaphala hetu rbhurma te sangostva karmani
- -Bhagavadgita (2.47)
(You have the right to work only but never to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction)
A million dollar question, 'What was her fault? Why only she was chosen too early?' lurked in my mind for a long time when I could not bear the sudden departure of my better half. Leaving aside my biased assessment about her, if one trusts my statement that friends are better in giving a fair and impartial opinion compared to relatives,what more can I expect from a family friend, not less than a District Judge, (deemed to be reserved in giving opinions by profession) said," Uncle, in fairness I feel that such a noble, divine like , innocent, pious, selfless, compassionate lady was not fit to tread on this earth." To corroborate that this is not an eulogy, one will wonder to know that she used to carry sweet packets to the senior doctors/surgeons (who were very much impressed by her pleasing manners and respected her), with her indelible and benign smiling face masking her feelings about the imminent ! Gradual awareness of the play of Law of Karma dawned upon me with refreshing thought of her presence with us for ever.
This reminds me of one anecdote that some times astute devotees are imprisoned for no fault of theirs, which seems to be quite unjustified. The fact is, it is on account of the actions of their past lives carried down into this birth, in the form of 'prarabdha karmas.' And it is by bearing those karmas, annihilating them by not doing further such karmas, they will be nearing realisation of Super Consciousness.
Karma is physical, mental or spiritual action one performs. Indian vedanta philosophy upholds the Law of Karma - The Cause and Effect Theory. What is sown has to be reaped . No escape from it. So the Phala (result) depends entirely on the karma (cause) whether virtuous or vicious. The karmas are four Samchita (accumulated actions), Prarabda (actions you have set in motion), Kriyamana (Actions being born) and Agami (Future actions).
As said earlier, for a true seeker it is better to welcome the prarabda karmas with a smile, bear them with love and compassion, strive for their annihilation in this very birth and achieve the state of 'Super Consciousness' . A shrewd, far-sighted one will never try to escape from bearing the karmas. We know how the two great Realised Souls of recent past namely, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi smilingly bore with their terminable diseases - cancer. A story to depict this point further.....
Once there lived a sage in Varanasi. He used to perform regularly linga puja in the temple at the bank of the river Ganges. One day he got malarial fever and started to shiver with cold. Despite the fever he was intent on doing the regular linga puja in the temple. With his power, he transferred his disease to his shirt which started shivering to the surprise of the public present, pulled out the shirt and kept it on the floor in a corner. Peacefully he completed his linga puja, took back the shirt lying on the ground and the disease along with it. He started shivering again with his shirt put on. Observing this strange phenomenon, one of the devotees present asked the sage, "Swamiji, it's a miracle that you are able to transfer your malarial fever to your upper garment which kept shivering while you peacefully worshipped the God. But I wonder why you take back the disease by putting on the garment after your worship. Instead, is it not wise to get rid of the disease permanently by transferring to the garment and throwing it away into the Ganges?" For this the sage replied with a little smile on his face, "I am contented that at least during worship I am disease-free, by God's grace. the rest of the time I am expected to bear the Prarabda Karma Phala (results of the past actions) without hesitation. One who escapes it is a coward." There is no need to explain how close he was, by annihilating his karmas, to the state of Super Consciousness.
Om Shanti!
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