A lot of us are conditioned since childhood with a particular notion of karma but in different forms -
reap what you sow,
जैसी करनी वैसी भरनी,
every action has an equal and opposite reaction,
do unto others.. etc.
We are made to believe that if we do good karma, we accumulate पुण्य, which delivers peace, happiness and ultimately, मोक्ष. If you thought that Geeta says so, then that's probably an oversimplified understanding if not a shallow one.
For a better exploration of karma, Hinduism actually offers a differentiation between karma and kriya. Not sure if I still understand it well enough myself, but thinking about the difference between the two in itself is a thought provoking exercise.
The first time I read about kriya and karma, I understood that kriya refers to actions that one is anyways supposed to do including his/her profession. Karma is what creates an impact on others, but with no selfish motive. I was disappointed with myself for a moment on hearing this. Read further and see if you can figure out why...
Let me first share my understanding of the two. If let's say, you run a business with the prime objective of wealth creation and in the process you generate employment, you can't simply claim good karma for giving your employees jobs & wages. You are just doing a kriya. Even if you give them allowances, HRA, bonus, increments, you're doing what you're anyways supposed to do - your kriya. You start growing your karma accout only if you do something for them with no expectations or selfish interests. E.g. I know of a person who financially supported a colleague suffering from cancer with slim chances of survival. Then, there was a promoter who even in the tightest of financial conditions did not discontinue canteens serving free lunch to employees across all levels. Examples of such karma in the world are infinite. But that's not the interesting part.
It gets intriguing when the line between kriya and karma starts to blur. E.g. if you think you have been a good son/daughter/parent/sibling just by adhering to family's value systems, taking care of them as your duty and contributing to household chores inside or outside the house , then being just compliant is not enough for good karma. You are just doing your kriya! In fact, even caring for a family member's well being with the intention that you (will) 'need' them is also just kriya and not karma. That self-interest behind an action is perhaps what distinguishes kriya from karma.
Now, juxtapose this with the most popular shlok from Geeta - कर्मणये वाधिकारस्ते मां फलेषु कदाचन। To me, this now means that we should keep doing our karma keeping aside all expectations. The usual interpretation that we should carry out our actions and not desire results is no more valid. We can always desire results, but then its no more karma. It becomes our kriya. And Geeta encourages us to do karma, not just kriya.
Here's another perspective - if you feel you have done good karma yet you have been wronged by the world, does that thought itself of expecting a certain recognition convert your karma into kriya? What if there was no self-interest at the time of carrying out an action and at a much later point in time, you started wishing something in return for it? Is it still karma or it has now turned into kriya? I don't know and maybe I will figure that out someday.
Even more fundamental question is who will judge whether its kriya or karma? Does God have the time and interest to judge each and every action of every living being across the universe? I doubt that. I think there are enough pointers in our philosophy to tell us that the best judge is we ourselves. And no, it's not the shallow and selfish mind which is the judge. It's probably what we call our consciousness that will judge us. It's the most honest and purest form of us. It will tell us the truth and not find excuses to justify our actions. It's our ज़मीर which won't allow us to commit a sin. That's probably why spiritual gurus stress on medidation so that we talk to our consciousness. It's this supreme consciousness of all living beings that has been referred to as the Universal God.
If you belive in karma and desire emancipation, you might want to keep re-evaluating yourselves on kriya and karma. What you decide to do after the re-evaluation can be anything but the exercise in itself is a humbling one.
PS: I am no expert on Geeta or any philosophy. All I know is that Geeta is so deep in its wisdom that every shlok has multiple dimensions and gives us the freedom to interpret in our way or the way our guru tells us to.
reap what you sow,
जैसी करनी वैसी भरनी,
every action has an equal and opposite reaction,
do unto others.. etc.
We are made to believe that if we do good karma, we accumulate पुण्य, which delivers peace, happiness and ultimately, मोक्ष. If you thought that Geeta says so, then that's probably an oversimplified understanding if not a shallow one.
For a better exploration of karma, Hinduism actually offers a differentiation between karma and kriya. Not sure if I still understand it well enough myself, but thinking about the difference between the two in itself is a thought provoking exercise.
The first time I read about kriya and karma, I understood that kriya refers to actions that one is anyways supposed to do including his/her profession. Karma is what creates an impact on others, but with no selfish motive. I was disappointed with myself for a moment on hearing this. Read further and see if you can figure out why...
Let me first share my understanding of the two. If let's say, you run a business with the prime objective of wealth creation and in the process you generate employment, you can't simply claim good karma for giving your employees jobs & wages. You are just doing a kriya. Even if you give them allowances, HRA, bonus, increments, you're doing what you're anyways supposed to do - your kriya. You start growing your karma accout only if you do something for them with no expectations or selfish interests. E.g. I know of a person who financially supported a colleague suffering from cancer with slim chances of survival. Then, there was a promoter who even in the tightest of financial conditions did not discontinue canteens serving free lunch to employees across all levels. Examples of such karma in the world are infinite. But that's not the interesting part.
It gets intriguing when the line between kriya and karma starts to blur. E.g. if you think you have been a good son/daughter/parent/sibling just by adhering to family's value systems, taking care of them as your duty and contributing to household chores inside or outside the house , then being just compliant is not enough for good karma. You are just doing your kriya! In fact, even caring for a family member's well being with the intention that you (will) 'need' them is also just kriya and not karma. That self-interest behind an action is perhaps what distinguishes kriya from karma.
Now, juxtapose this with the most popular shlok from Geeta - कर्मणये वाधिकारस्ते मां फलेषु कदाचन। To me, this now means that we should keep doing our karma keeping aside all expectations. The usual interpretation that we should carry out our actions and not desire results is no more valid. We can always desire results, but then its no more karma. It becomes our kriya. And Geeta encourages us to do karma, not just kriya.
Here's another perspective - if you feel you have done good karma yet you have been wronged by the world, does that thought itself of expecting a certain recognition convert your karma into kriya? What if there was no self-interest at the time of carrying out an action and at a much later point in time, you started wishing something in return for it? Is it still karma or it has now turned into kriya? I don't know and maybe I will figure that out someday.
Even more fundamental question is who will judge whether its kriya or karma? Does God have the time and interest to judge each and every action of every living being across the universe? I doubt that. I think there are enough pointers in our philosophy to tell us that the best judge is we ourselves. And no, it's not the shallow and selfish mind which is the judge. It's probably what we call our consciousness that will judge us. It's the most honest and purest form of us. It will tell us the truth and not find excuses to justify our actions. It's our ज़मीर which won't allow us to commit a sin. That's probably why spiritual gurus stress on medidation so that we talk to our consciousness. It's this supreme consciousness of all living beings that has been referred to as the Universal God.
If you belive in karma and desire emancipation, you might want to keep re-evaluating yourselves on kriya and karma. What you decide to do after the re-evaluation can be anything but the exercise in itself is a humbling one.
PS: I am no expert on Geeta or any philosophy. All I know is that Geeta is so deep in its wisdom that every shlok has multiple dimensions and gives us the freedom to interpret in our way or the way our guru tells us to.
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