Karma - Explained Like Never Before

0:00 I have seen many videos and many articles where it has been mentioned that uh Ishwara or Bhagavan doesn't have any role in the working of law of karma but that is not so I would like to explain this law of karma in three stages am I doing or is Bhagavan doing a person without a sin cannot experience a pain so in those very very very rare situations ions Bhagavan will use his uh swatrium independence and he'll curtail the effort that this person is taking. So what Bhagavan does is he creates situations where you decide. And the next day Rahana instead

0:48 of coming with a bow and an arrow if he had come with an anjali with his hands folded Rama would have in the situation how much free will does a person [Music] Shrimat Ramanuja. Welcome to another episode of Salapam. In the previous episode, we had discussed about the Charavaga philosophy and had also promised that we'll be speaking about various Indian philosophies. But in this video, we are going to

1:36 discuss about a very important topic which is karma. Actually, we had promised that we'll be doing a podcast on karma last year. So it has been due for over a year now. So we thought of doing this first and then getting into other philosophies. This is a very important topic. Karma is one thing that binds most of the Indian dashas together. So how does karma work is one thing that we must understand for sure. Today what I am going to do is explain how Rammanujachara looked at karma. How he has explained

2:22 karma in his texts such as Shrihasham etc. The Vedantis be Shankarachara or others they have also explained karma in a similar fashion. There may be slight differences in the nuances but mostly the explanation is similar. So let's get into it. I have with me Ragunathan who has featured in many of our videos. Uh he is there to ask relevant questions and uh you know make sure that I'm on the right path during the whole podcast. So Ramanas Ramanas the term karma is so deeply connected to

3:07 us. If at all we or someone else feel some sort of happiness or sadness, we simply say the reason for the sadness is nothing but karma. So in this context again want to know the meaning of the word karmas. Swami. >> Yes. As you said the word karma has been used by one and all and I think it has even got a place in English dictionary nowadays. So it is very important to understand what the word karma means. The word karma means action in Sanskrit. Uh it is karma.

3:52 That which is done is called karma. The word karma has many meanings but in this context it is action. And uh in the duration of our podcast, we'll be usually using the word karma to denote two things. Okay? One is the action we take or we perform that is also called karma. And there is something which is a result of that karma which is also called karma. like uh I helped someone. I gave him some money or something. I helped him. So that is a good deed, good

4:39 action which is a karma, right? It leads to something we call apur like I did this action now and uh maybe that person who got that money may forget. I may forget but we believe that whatever has been done will surely give its result at some point of time. Now the action I did has finished. I'm going to get a result in future. So there must be something in between which makes sure that I get the result. So the intermediary is also called

5:24 karma. Okay. The action we take is also called karma and that which follows that which is the intermediary which makes sure that I get the result is also uh called karma. Now you will see that the action we take is usually classified into three. Manasa karma vika karma ka karma. Some mental action that is manasa karma. Sometimes we voluntarily think about things right. So that is manas karma and you have vajika karma. So we also perform some actions through words that is karma basically speech and the third

6:12 one is that which we do with our uh body that is kayakam karma shar karma. So there are three types of karma. Whatever it may be will lead to something that is called that is also called a karma and uh to be specific it is in most of dions called apurwam that which is in between. So in this context karma will denote two things. The action I took and the intermediary that uh resulted. Okay. So this is karma. Swami we generally hear two terms one is puna and the other one is papa. >> So what what are those basically it can

6:59 be considered as wrong action and right action. So or or good action and bad action. Okay good deeds bad deeds. So punam pam in some context denote the action we took and sometimes I told the intermediary right. So that is also called punaram. Sometimes you say that uh uh I did some priestam through that I washed away my papam. So what got washed away the action you took has been completed when you did that action but that which resulted the intermediary that got washed away now. So the words

7:46 punam and papam also are used to denote the actions and the apura. Okay. So you mean the puna is papa is nothing but the result in >> it's not the result. The result is happiness or sorrow. There is something in between which stays with us or somewhere which makes sure that I get the sorrow. Like I'll I'll explain with an example. See you saw something. You went to Thumala. You got Dan of Wadeshwar Swami. Now if I tell you to close your eyes and uh and meditate upon his uh divine form, would you be able to do that?

8:31 >> Definitely. Yes. So you see when you had the dion of Lord Veneshwara there was an impression that was created in you maybe in your mind in your soul or in your brain somewhere. Let's not get into what that impression is but there is an impression that was created somewhere which now make sure that when you want to remember him you can remember him. So there is something in between right? Similarly when you do an action something is generated which stays till you get the result. There is something right that is that is called punam or papa or basically commonly known as uh karma. So karma and the

9:20 intermediary will be puna and the result may be sorrow or or the happiness. If you want to understand this in one sentence, there is this action which leads to apurwam which stays for a long time till you enjoy the fruit. >> Okay. The action and the apurwam both are known as karma and whether they are good or bad decides if they will be called punam or papam. >> Okay. action apurwam result. So why what is the law of karma? See there are many things which can be termed as law of karma. But uh in today's podcast I

10:08 consider that uh the rule that every action that you take has a result is called the law of karma. Basically we see that some things go unpunished, some actions go unrewarded in this world. You'll find that very good people suffer and bad people uh sometimes seem to be happy. So the law of karma basically says that whatever action has taken place will surely be rewarded or punished according to uh what it is. Okay. This is the law of karma. In shastras it is said

10:59 be it a good deed or a bad deed you have to you have to surely experience the results. There is no escaping. Okay. So this is what I consider the law of karma. There may be many bylaws regarding this but uh this is what I mean by law of karma. This law of karma brings most of the Indian dashas together like beta, bodhamatam jamatam other astikamatams. All these usually have one thing in common that is the belief in karma theory that whatever you do you will

11:48 reap the result at some point of time. When I say that all these schools of thought come together, it doesn't mean that they agree upon every aspect of this like there are many differences of opinion in how karma actually works. Okay, that may be our next part. So I am not of the opinion that all the schools of thought have uh a consensus regarding how karma works because you have the bodhas jas and all who don't believe in a creator or an ishwara and you have people like mam sakas who also don't believe in a creator or a god. So they have a

12:34 different way of explaining what uh apurwam is, how karma works and all. For today's podcast we are going to discuss how vantis usually explain this. Yes. So basically the law of karma is whatever you do you must enjoy the fruits of it. Be it a good be it good or bad. >> Yes. Yes. >> So what is the working mechanism of this concept karma? uh this is the question that I really want to answer in Rammanujachara's uh sranaya. You know there is a vital role that Bhagavan plays. Even Shankarachara and other acharas have specifically said that there is a very important role that Bhagavan plays.

13:22 uh I have seen many videos and many articles where it has been mentioned that uh Ishwara or Bhagavan doesn't have any role in the working of law of karma but that is not so uh in the brahasutrasa [Music] clearly mentions that so what the sutra actually means is the Result of a karma is given by Bhagavan Palam ata and the commentators such as Rammanujachara, Shankarachara all have commented in this way that the results

14:07 of karma are given by Bhagavan. In Bhagavat Gita Krishna says I am the one who is woripped through all KMAS and I am the one who gives the results of all KMAS. So ishwara has a very important role to play in this law of karma. Okay. I would like to explain this law of karma in three stages. First one is the stage where a person takes an action. That is first stage and the second one would be the intermediary stage or intermediate stage where this is stored our actions are

14:54 remembered okay in a way that is the second stage and the third stage would be where we experience the results. So we can divide this into three phases. The first phase would deal uh regarding how a person takes an action. Okay. What is the role of Bhagavan there? How does this all happen? Does this person have free will? Is he the doer? There are so many questions pertaining to the first phase. So the first question who is really the doer? Am I doing or is Bhagavan doing or uh there is is there some other force that is make making me doing

15:40 so that I am not the real doer. So there are many philosophies like the sananka philosophy in that it is said that the atma or purusha he's not the doer but rather it can you know loosely translated as nature nature is the one who does okay but uh coming to the vdantic traditions we say that the jvatma is the one who And uh Vyas Brahma Sutra says karta shastraatwat who is the kartha jvatma is the karta shastraatwat only then would the

16:27 shastras would be fruitful. If at all I am not the one who is doing and the shastras are telling me to do something then they are just you know uh doing nothing like if I am not the doer then shastras don't mean anything to me right so who is the kartha the ja is the karta so the first question is answered who is the doer by answering this we have also shown that the jvatma has free will. It is in samskitam called jaatantriam. The ja has free will which he exercises and decides and does an action performs

17:12 an action. So the doer is the jvatma and he does have free will. So shastraat. Now what is the role of bhagavan here? These things have been explained in an adharan called the Brahma Sutra goes to I am quoting all these sutras just to make sure that it is not me who is speaking. I'm just trying to represent our acharas. Okay. Now Bhagavan has a very important role. I am the decider but Bhagavan has done many things like firstly it is Bhagavan

17:59 who created the whole world right and then he has given me the knowledge he has given me the ability to do so these are things that Bhagavan has done uh in common for all of us right and then he also gives me free will through which I can decide to do something and when I decide to do something he must also permit me to do that he also sanctions that particular action. So this is the role of Bhagavan. Ramanachara explains this very beautifully. See Bhagavan has given us the tools to act

18:48 upon but it doesn't mean he is pushing us towards a specific karma right he has given us common tools and it is us who decide what to do now when we speak about Bhagavan sanctioning what really does happen There it is said that Bhagavan has two phases. The first phase is called udaswam which is indifference and then he has this phase called anumantra where he permits or sanctions. Usually in the shastras it is mentioned that when a person performs an action

19:36 this is the sequence they say he knows he desires he makes an effort he does something. So this is the sequence. Now when we are performing a particular action first we know something like I see an apple I desire that apple and then I take an effort to uh grab that. See when I am knowing that apple when I

20:22 develop a desire and when I take the first step in the effort to grab that apple is indifferent he say or shaka they say he's indifferent so he is not pushing us towards any decision we decide and then when we act upon At that moment Bhagavan sanctions he becomes Anumanta. Anumant is the one who sanctions. He becomes the perimeter. Without that permission from Bhagavan we wouldn't be able to do anything. Okay. So Bhagavan's role here is being indifferent during

21:09 the decision process. And when the action starts at that moment bhagavan beam becomes anumanta. So there are there is there is more nuance to this. Maybe we can discuss about that in uh later episodes. Usually they say that there is there is this brahma there is slight differences of opinion uh even in the vdantic schools of philosophy but according to Rammanuja this is how the sutra is explained. So in each particular action the first effort is seen by Bhagavan and permitted by Bhagavan and uh hence and so the action takes

21:58 place. Now you may ask is there a time when Bhagavan wouldn't permit you know uh it is explained so in some commentaries. See the karma is very interlin. All right. Now just assume that there is a person who wants to harm another person. Now he saw that person he desires to hit him and now he starts to take the effort. If at all the person in front of him has no pam, no sin at all and if Bhagavan permits this person to hit him,

22:44 then see there is a person who has no pam but now he must experience a pain. If this person hits he must uh experience a pain but that would be wrong. A person without a sin cannot experience a pain. So in those very very very rare situations Bhagavan will use his uh swatrium independence and he'll curtail the effort that this person is taking. This usually doesn't happen but Bhagavan reserves that uh capacity of permitting to himself. So sometimes he may not permit due to some circumstances. Okay.

23:30 So this is the first phase when an action is uh taken. This action may be of three kinds. It could be uh a voluntary thought or speech or a bodily action. So this is the first phase of uh action. Let's get into the second phase where this action is in a way stored. Now when I perform an action or a person performs an action that action is completed in a matter of uh seconds or minutes or something you know it it is complete at at one point of time. uh that particular action leads to something that which I talked about earlier the intermediary something for

24:17 the mimakas they say when I perform an action there is something which is called apurwam that is uh created which stays for a time and in future it will give me a result they just call it apuram that's all okay it is also sometimes called adishtam that which cannot be seen. Similarly, there is another philosophy of the nayas. They say that when a jatma does an action, there is a resultant karma that is puny or pav. It is also called dharma adharma in their text and that is stored in the atma. It is

25:04 the quality of an atma. So when an action is done by an atma the intermediary it is it is a quality of uh the jvatma they say ga. So out of the 24 gonas they explain there are two which are dharma adharma punyam and papam which are kind of like stored in the atma for them. But coming to the Vantis, we believe that Bhagavan is the one who gives the results of karma. I have explained some verses even before and in Paladaram this has been explained. Uh so Bhagavan is the one who gives the results. So

25:51 Rammanujachara says that when a person performs an action, Bhagavan remembers that. So whatever we do is stored in Bhagavan's memory. I'm just using some you know simple words. Uh but basically the understanding is such so Bhagavan remembers. It's not like he's going to memorize something. So because since he's omniscient we'll also know this that this person has done a punam or he has done a pam. So it is in Bhagavan's memory unlike the nayakas who say that the atma holds punar papam we say that it is in bhagavan's memory that the impression is

26:37 created. So I have done some action I may forget that uh the persons involved in that action may forget that but there will be some person who will never forget that and that is bhagavan. There are many upanish vakyas upanish sentences which also uh which also say the same thing which have been quoted in the paladam and all. So it is in Bhagavan's memory that this is stored. What Bhagavan does is uh he also has ordered some people like uh you must have seen in puranas and all you see that there is this Yama and his

27:23 minister Chitra Gupta who have the you know list of our KMAS right so due to Bhagavan's order these dvatas they also you know make sure that every karma is counted and its result is given. So it is due to the orders of Ishwara that Yama Chitra Gupta and there are many others who are involved in this process of giving results. Okay. But mainly it is in the memory of Bhagavan because during prayam and all there will be no other datas. So it is stored in Bhagavan's memory karma. Okay. So we can go deep in this also but for now it's

28:08 enough. So this is the second phase Bhagavan remembers. So it's dependent upon each karma. Uh some may give results in a matter of days. Some may give results in matter of months and some may give results only in next lives. Okay. So till Bhagavan deems some karma to be fit and uh uh deems the time to be fit, Bhagavan is patient and then he gives results. Swami, sorry for the interruption, Swami, but how do we decide what is pun and what is papa? Uh yes see uh in Bhagavat Gita Krishna says

29:06 soar to understand what is that which can be done and that which is aarium which must not be done there is only one source of knowledge and that is shastrum tasma So only through shastras that we can uh know what is a good deed and what is not a good deed. So what is a punam and what is a papa. Uh so we have to learn the shastras understand their intent and uh you know perform whatever we need to perform. Yes. So that which is prescribed by the shastra is called puna and which is prohibited by the shastra is called papa. The source of knowledge

29:53 through which we can understand pun and pam is shastra. But what exactly is pun and pam is uh you know that which pleases bhagavan is punam that which doesn't please bhagavan is papam. For example bhagavan says It goes on. What I want to explain here is a he says beauty or the smr they are my orders he says. So the shastras mirror

30:42 what uh Bhagavan's preferences are. So shastras kind of dictate what pleases Bhagavan and what doesn't please Bhagavan. And uh it is according to shastras that Bhagavan deals with this karma and it is not like shastras were created by Bhagavan. We believe that the Vedas are a they haven't been created. So from time immemorial from Anadikala Bhagavan and the shastras have existed. The shastras have always kind of mirrored Bhagavan's uh intentions. Yes. So that which pleases Bhagavan is

31:30 uh punam. That which doesn't please Bhagavan is papam. For example, uh there is this shloka by kuresha sachinha mishara a very important disciple of ramanachara who says that which is priya that which pleases you is pun and that which doesn't please you is papam that's all. So Bhagavan and shastrram are there from eternity and the shastras mirror bhagavan's intentions. Yes. >> Swami, sorry for the interruption. Uh they can speak about the third phase which you specifically mentioned earlier. >> Yes. Yes. We must get into the third phase. There is a lot of explanation

32:17 that has to be given here. So let's get into it. The third phase is about how Bhagavan gives the results of karma. Okay. Now the person he performed an action and after a while Bhagavan decides to give the result of a particular karma. In this way we must understand that this world is full of people with their own free wills. Right? What Bhagavan actually does is he brings people together like I am explaining this very simply in very

33:05 simple terms. It is way more complicated and maybe cannot be comprehended by us. But the working is such imagine there is a person with a papa with a sin. Okay. And there is a person who has the tendency to hit someone. Okay. So Bhagavan will bring them together through various means. I am you know explaining this in very simple terms. Bringing them together will also need many people. Each person with his own free will. So Bhagavan is an omnisient being. Right? So he knows how to do this. We may not

33:53 be able to comprehend that. But the basic understanding of the working is there is a person with a free will and there is a person uh who has to enjoy or experience the result of his karma. So Bhagavan will bring them together if at all there is a person who has not done any sin. Bhagavan will by some means make sure that he is not hit by anyone. We sometimes find that during big tragedies and all many people lose their lives and all but you'll find some person one person or two of them who escaped. There was so Bhagavan deemed that that

34:40 time not to be right to give that result to him. So recent Air India crash is one of such example maybe. >> Yes. Yes. You know it's very uh heartbreaking to speak about that incident but uh yes that's an example you'll find that some person ex you know escaped. Yes. So Bhagavan will make sure that a person with insufficient amount of sin is not inflicted by a pain by a particular pain. Okay. So this is called a jagat vyaparam. Bhagavan is bringing so many people together who have their own free wills who have their own set of kmas and the cycle of

35:29 karma goes on and on. So in every example that I'm going to give there are many people involved but for us to understand in a simple way I will be using just one or two people. Okay. Like so I explained that if there are two people with the there's a person whose tendency tendency is to hit and there's a person who has a sin, Bhagavan will bring them together. Okay. This happens in so in that manner the sin of that particular person uh gives the result at that particular time. Now see when the person hit him the other person he created new karma for himself he created a new pum for himself this

36:17 person's pam got washed away so this happens perpetually it goes on happening now I would like to explain uh one thing here each karma we do usually can have three types of results Ramanachara explains this in a uh adaram in Shibasham where he says each karma has three results. See one is the puna or papam which leads to happiness or sorrow. Okay that's one thing. The second one is there is this concept of ruchi and vasana.

37:02 That is the second rui and vasana. Second thing and third is eligibility or in ineligibility. Okay. When a person performs a good karma, a punam uh is uh acquired by him and whatever karma it may be it will also lead to vasana and ruji. What is vasana? What is ruchi? If we go on performing a particular karma, we tend to do that type of karma more and more like uh when we you know have some good habits. What happens is we tend to do good actions

37:50 again. Like for some people uh they wake up early early morning and they have created a habit in a while. In a while it becomes such that they involuntarily wake up. they do that good action and sometimes it creates a desire to do that good action. So whenever you perform an action there is a vasana created there is a ruchi created there's a slight difference between v wasa and ruchi vasana makes you perform actions involuntarily. Ruchi makes you perform actions voluntarily. So ruchi is basically

38:37 desire. You'll find that for people who take coffee or tea at a particular time like 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. every day at that time they get a desire you know to drink that coffee. So when it becomes too much it turns into addiction. So this is ruchi. It uh you know creates richi. Ruchi is basically desire. Okay. And vasana is that samscara which makes you perform actions involuntarily >> like you know there are some things like uh you know brushing teeth or uh going in the same route daily.

39:22 Those are those have become such a habit that you need not think about them. You need not think about how to brush or you need not uh think about how to go in that route. You will you know uh come across traffic signals. You will come come across different uh types of vehicles and all but you need not voluntarily do some actions. Sometimes you feel like how did I even cross that place? I don't even remember. So vasana sometimes uh makes you do actions involuntarily. Ruchi is uh is desire. So when you have a very intense desire uh you will do an action but it will be voluntary right. So this is also a result of karma.

40:09 Vasana and ruchi they also come with you to the next birth. You'll see that uh some people have a tendency to do good actions even in a uh you know even in their childhood even when they are very small. Some people have a different tendency and all. So this will be explained uh by Vantis that vasana and ruchi of the previous birth is u uh you know resulting in this. Of course the scientists would say that there are some genes or something. The vantis would tell that why should this person get that particular set of genes that is because of poor you know previous karma. Okay. So karma results

40:55 in puny papam first second ruchiasana and third is eligibility ineligibility. Uh like uh when the samscar of upayamayanam is done the person gets the eligibility to learn vedas so he got an eligibility. Sometimes when someone does some sinful activities he loses his eligibility. So that is also a result of karma. So results of karma is there are three types of karma uh results and uh coming to the third phase two things matter most the first and second one. So this person who has been performing uh kmas through many births

41:41 has a type of vasana and a type of ruchi. So his tendency to do good deeds or bad deeds is dependent upon his vasanai. There is this thing and then Bhagavan also creates situations where this person has to experience the fruits of his previous karma. So Bhagavan does create situations that is the role of Bhagavan and u after creating this situation Bhagavan also provides us with some thoughts in Bhagavat Gita. Krishna says it is only because of me that you gain

42:27 knowledge, you remember things and you forget things. So it is implied here that it is Bhagavan who provides us with thoughts. So once he creates a situation, he also provides us with with some thoughts. According to our past karma, we may be given good thoughts like to do some good things or some bad thoughts which lead us towards a bad deed. Okay. But though Bhagavan provides us with thoughts, he doesn't decide what thought we act upon. Okay. We find ourselves in situations where you know we get a we get a bad thought but uh we don't act upon it. Like uh sometimes a

43:15 person may be walking on the road he may find a a note you know maybe 500 rupee note or 2,000 rupee note something like that he won't be finding 2,000 rupee note now. Uh but you know sometimes the thought arises oh let's keep it for ourselves then we subdue that thought uh then we subdue that thought and uh you know act in a right way. So there are many situations where we get a bad thought but we subdue that and act accordingly. So Bhagavan according to past kmas also provides these thoughts but the deciding factor is the jvatma that is one thing that

44:01 must be noted here. So situation thoughts there is this vasana and all the jivatma decides and acts upon it. Um this is the this is one thing that I wanted to explain and um uh I usually use a story or an analogy to explain this. A person has done a small punam for that uh Bhagavan wants to give him a fruit literally a fruit. Okay. So I usually explain this in this way. Some children they are playing cricket. a boy he hits a long six. So the ball flies away to a garden

44:48 for practical purposes and for this uh example let's assume that that garden is no one's property. Okay. A boy who went uh chasing the ball ended up in the garden. While he was searching for the ball, he found the ball and he found a very juicy mango and uh that mango was reachable. Now Bhagavan has created a situation for that boy to make sure that he gets a result of his small pun. Now there is this mango fruit. This boy can utilize that fruit in many different ways. one he can pluck it he can eat it

45:36 and if he does so that punam for which Bhagavan wanted to give this mango will be done it's done but Bhagavan will not force this person to eat that it is that person who decides so he may sometime think that I have got this mango why should I eat it myself let me share this with my Okay. So now what he does is he takes that mango. He doesn't enjoy it completely. He shares it with his friends. What happens is he had a puna. Now Bhagavan created a situation which he used to create more pun.

46:24 Right? Since he ate some of that fruit, maybe his punam also uh you know got depleted a bit but since he did a good deed he also accumulated some punam and sometimes some people may use that fruit for some different purpose. That person could use that to hit uh uh an animal or hit some animals. So do some bad deed. So what Bhagavan does is he creates the situation. Now when he does the bad deed maybe see he did not enjoy the fruit. All right. So his puna may be depleted or

47:11 may not be depleted but he ended up accumulating some papa. So in every situation you can decide for yourself and accumulate more punam or accumulate more papam or just make sure that whatever punam was there or papam was there it is depleted that's all. So what bhagavan does is he creates situations where you decide. So jvatma do have the independence independence that is what we call free will or jasantrium. Okay. It is said by Aracharias that even Rahana had that independence. When Rama sends Rahana

47:56 uh to his palace again like once uh he was about to be defeated Rahana at that point of time Rama says now you can go. He says now you can you may go. I permit you to go. Rama sends him. The next day Rahana instead of coming with a bow and an arrow if he had come with an anjali with his hands folded Rama would have left Rahana alone. What Rama did is he gave an opportunity to him to surrender but he didn't use that. The point is even a person like Rahana who has very

48:44 you know uh dense durasana he also has an opportunity to do a good deed. Okay. So we believe that that person has free will. Of course, not every person has uh free will like we assume. There are some mentally ill people, some other people who may not have free will as we uh understand. But Bhagavan will be knowing all that how free is that being or not. So we find that there are some uh diseases brain tumors and all which cause people

49:30 to do some wrong deeds but Bhagavan will know that he won't uh consider someone with a tumor doing a wrong deed as a wrong person. He knows he has his own rules and uh so we need not uh assume that these are not given a place in our understanding. Okay. So, so in a situation each person can decide what he does. Now, see, Bhagavan creates a situation to give you a result. If that result is not achieved, Bhagavan will create another situation. So, Bhagavan will go on creating situations according to our past punam and papa. That's what this goes on and on and on. And this is called the cycle of karma. Swami let us

50:17 take a situation uh there is one uh disaster say earthquake so in that situation some 5,000 people will gather in a single place from different different places in the world and there the disaster will happen so now Bhagavan created a situation called earthquake and here the free will of the jvatma uh even if they try to run from there so they they died eventually Actually in the situation how much free will does a person have? See according to our past kmas we are restricted like as humans we can only do some actions like I can see up

51:03 to a certain distance. I can hear sounds to a certain distance or from a certain distance. So we have our limitations. I can't fly. I can't uh run faster than a cheetah. Sometimes not even faster than a dog. So we all have our restrictions which are the result of our past karma. See uh according to whatever we have done we are restricted. Even in our world we see that for a very small crime his jail is different. for a very uh heinous crime you'll find that their uh jail or prison or

51:49 confinement is more strict and all. Similarly, according to our past kmas, we have free will but it is also restricted to a level. You can think of doing anything but you are restricted to a level. So when Bhagavan is creating natural calamities such as earthquakes, it is due to the karma of all those people involved there. The earthquake has been you know created or made to happen. So I the free will basically due to their past karma everything is restricted and they are made to uh uh you know experience that result

52:36 then this is not truly a free will this is restricted free will maybe of course what is free will see free will doesn't mean you can do whatever you want no one said free will means whatever you want no that's not free When you have options, do you have the decision making capacity? That's all. That is free will. Free will doesn't mean you do whatever you want. No one defines free will as that. Basically, if there are two options, do you have the ability to choose one of them? That is free will. So even in that restricted uh place a person might choose to go run to his left or run to

53:23 his right. Those kind of actions are not decided by Bhagavan. That's all. So free will doesn't mean you can do whatever. Of course you cannot do whatever you want. And when I say that free will is restricted, what I mean is the actions that you can do through your free will are restricted. That's all. I didn't mean that uh you know in a different way. Maybe I couldn't phrase that in the right way. But what I meant is your actions are restricted according to your past karma. That's why we see that people with a lot of uh pund and all they are able to fly and all like you know some yogis and all who have immense power that is due to their karma. Due to our

54:10 karma we are uh limited in knowledge in uh ability and all. So free will basically is do you have the ability to decide that is there to jvatma uh actually we find many religious people saying bhagavanalpa and all they do some action and they'll say bhagavan no it's not bhagavan sankalpa it is our decision bhagavan just permits that's all he sanctions that's So will he sanction both the good and the bad. See uh there is a lot here.

54:56 It is in some texts said that uh Bhagavan sanctions good deeds. But when it comes to bad deeds, Bhagavan doesn't exactly sanction. He doesn't take a specific salpa for that. But rather he remains indifferent. And uh so there is this uh naya in samskritam in shastra city it saidh manumatam bhavati that that which is not prohibited is permitted in that manner bhagavan permits in some text it said so in some texts it said that bhagavan gives jvasandra he gives independence so when someone wants to exercise his free will

55:45 to do a bad deed. Bhagavan doesn't uh you know stop him because freedom is one thing that Bhagavan doesn't want to compromise upon. So Bhagavan makes sure he's free to do even bad deeds and there are more explanations that we can go and giving uh many things there are that I think I have missed upon uh missed out. Um yes let us make one one more video for the same. Yes, >> possible. >> I think I just tried to explain the basics of how all these work. Uh there are many more questions like uh is there no common karma like a family has a common karma or how does jaotic shastra

56:34 play into all this? How do future predictions happen if everyone has his own free will? Is Bhagavan really omniscient if he has given free will to Jas? These are some questions that uh come to my mind and uh there are many more things. Uh maybe we can continue another podcast and we can welcome some questions so that we have an idea of what we can answer. So basically what I have spoken today is all from parayadam from the Brahma sutras. The sutra is uh where it is clearly mentioned that Bhagavan has a role in every action but

57:22 the doer the kartha is jvatma kartastwat the nextam is so the doer is the jvatma but bhagavan has a very important role in it. So that is parayadam kartraam and also paladarum where it has been clearly mentioned that bhagavan gives the results. Swami before ending this podcast again have one more question the last question for this podcast uh swami the what is the end point of this karma cycle? The end of karma cycle is liberation moka and each sraaya has its own way to attain moka. For us uh there are many ways such as bacti sharanagati and all but uh in shiva

58:08 sraaya sharanagati and sharagati through an achara and acharaam we say uh that is best way to free ourselves from this uh karmic cycle. Uh so that's the answer. So each srada has its own answer for that. But for us, but for us it is sharagati or acharaam. Uh explaining about sharagati and aarimam would lead us to another episode. Okay. So let's keep it simple. Swami, I have lot of questions but due to the time restriction, let us end uh this podcast as of now and let us try to if possible let us try to answer the same in the coming podcast. >> Sure. Sure. If people have valid

58:54 questions and uh if you want them to be answered, you can post them in the comments. We'll try to pick some comments and try to answer them in coming up videos. Let's meet the next episode. Thanks for watching this video. We at Bhaktam are committed to deliver the best quality content regarding Sanatan Dharma and Sashna Samraaya. Our objective is to promote, preserve and preach the values of sanatana dharma especially sashna samrada. This really involves a lot of time, effort and resources. If our efforts have really touched your lives, you can consider supporting us. The links for

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