THE SECOND GANADHARA

Up-pravartak Shri Amar Muni

Now let us think of the second point. "Karma arises from attachments and hatred". This theory contains at least an element of truth that, attachments and hatred arise out of karmas of a previous birth.

Question: If this is so, then karmas when ripened will show their effect of attachment and hatred, which will generate new karmas and they too will create attachment and hatred. Thus this link will go on but will never end, there will be no scope for Moksa--salvation.

Answer: This is not always true that internal attachment and hatred always create karmas; otherwise none would have attained moksa until now. Infinite souls have attained moksa.

This fact proves that attachment and hatred being more and more controlled are one day wiped out for ever. From this, it is concluded that the karmas when ripened, although show their internal effect of attachment and hatred, but if externally their effects are suppressed namely no action of anger, no abusive language etc., then those karmas go fruitless. This shows that we can restrain our attachments and hatred and thereby frustrate the karmas' effect, i.e. if hatred arose towards somebody, by not spoiling facial appearance not using an abusive language, nor hurting, or injuring others, we can avoid the bondage of new karmas. For example, when we are angry with a person, or if we hate a person, if we restrain our passion and if we can avoid excitement, harsh words, and violence, we will not be gathering new karmas. A noble honest man may develop lust for wealth, but he may restrain his greed and may not commit theft or a dishonest activity. On the contrary, if he curses his own attachment, he can avoid heavy karma-bondages. We can put an end to this cycle of the continuance of karmas by studying great scriptures such as 'Samaraditya Kevali' Maharshi Charitra and Upamiti etc., by understanding them, by developing philosophical and spiritual awareness and farsightedness and by restraining our attachments and hatred as far as possible.

The third point is 'Karmas arise from previous karmas ?' So long as the soul is burdened by the mass of previous karmas, it keeps gathering new karmas. Because,

(a) if these karmas from the time of ripening give rise to vices like attachments, hatred and violent propensities, new karmas do arise.

(b) Even after we expel or discard these karmas, if our mind, body and voice given to us by karmas, continue their movements, then we gather new karmas.

(c) In the same manner, new karmas can not stick to the wholly independent, completely pure and formless soul, but to soul having bondages of previous karmas stick to the soul. These vices like violence, attachments and hatred are included in four causes for karma-bondages viz. false faith, vowlessness, passions, sentiment of anger etc., and sinful mental-vocal and physical activities. Now we shall. examine the inferences regarding the existence of karmas.

The inferences regarding the existence of Karmas:

1. The first part is this:-

[gadapg 59 indian writing]

If the other external causes and circumstances are similar, yet if two effects are different from each other, then it is concluded that other different internal causes must be working. Without such internal different causes, there cannot be such a difference in their effects. For instance two works written on different times by the same author dealing with same theme may mutually differ on account of the difference between the internal inspiration or attitude. In this manner for such differences as happiness and sorrow karma should be accepted as the inward cause. The difference should not be considered on account of outward causes such as delicious food, sandal paste, and woman etc., as well as thorns, cold, heat, poison, etc., which bring happiness or sorrow respectively, because on account of these very causes, some get sorrows instead of happiness, or happiness instead of sorrows. From this, it is evident that there is some deeper cause that regulates and brings about happiness and sorrows and that deeper cause is karma.

(2) If there is no linking karman body between the body of the previous birth and the body of the present birth, it means that between the two states there existed only the connecting pure soul. If so, owing to the pure soul how did the jiva attain a particular body in this janma (birth)?

Question: Is it not the result of the good and evil deeds of the previous birth?

Answer: No, it is so because a new body in the form of an effect arises in this birth and the good and evil deeds of the previous birth (which are the cause of present happiness and sorrow) have already been destroyed. The rule regarding the cause and effect is this. The cause must have existed in the previous moment of the effect. For example, suppose we ate food but suddently afterwards due to such an eatable taken by us, we vomitted the food, in this state why does not the body remain strong and healthy? Can the body grow strong just because food has been eaten? No. The body grows strong only if the food is preserved and assimilated in the body and transformed into blood etc. Here this has not happened because the food is vomitted. In the same manner, if we have

gathered auspicious or inauspicious karmas on account of our good or evil deeds in the past life, these karmas accompany our soul to the present life, then only according to these karmas the present body of a particular form, shape etc. is being created. Thus the karma-body is proved in between the two births.

(3)The jiva carries out such activities as charity, celibacy etc. What is the effect of these activities? Just as farming brings a harvest in the form of effect, benevolence, charity also must bring an effect and that is karma (destiny, fortune).

Question: Cultivation sometimes goes futile. Is that the case with benevolence? Does it also sometimes go futile?

Answer: It might go futile, if there is lack of other causes, but just as cultivation is carried out with this understanding that harvest is produced if the other necessary objects are present there, same is the case with charity.

Question: Can't we say that mental peace is the fruit? For instance, we get mental peace by giving alms to the deserving sages.

Answer: Yes. But even this is a mental activity. What is its fruit?

Question: Its fruit is other good activities like benevolence.

Answer: But what is the fruit of the last mental peace occurring at the end of the life which is not followed by any good deed of benevolence? In this case, it must be accepted that the fruit is karma or good fortune.

Question: Just as the visible fruit of violence is meat, similarly, the visible fruit of benevolence is praise, fame etc., but what is the need to believe in some invisible fruit? Normally in this world, people probably indulge in carrying out such actions as would bring an immediate visble benefit. You gave the example of cultivation. on that basis also, it must be accepted that there is a visible fruit of benevolence i.e. the capacity to show benevolence. When there is a visible fruit why should we think of an invisible fruit? The visible fruit of eating is satisfaction. The harvest is the visible fruit of cultivation. When that is so, what is the need to believe in some invisible fruit?

Answer: Every action may not bring about a visible fruit, yet it will surely bring about an invisible fruit. Therefore we must believe in the invisible fruits in addition to the visible fruits of our actions. Let the visible fruit of violence be meat but as its invisible fruit sin must be believed in. Otherwise why are the souls wandering in the samsar from the times immorial? Because there are many who commit inauspicious activities such as violence, etc., many are the souls that are experiencing sorrows and wandering in the Samsar. On the contrary the number of those who carry out auspicious actions like charity etc., is small and so the number of jivas that get felicity and salvation is also small. Consequently good and evil actions are linked with happiness and sorrows respectively. Auspicious actions bring happiness and inauspicious actions bring sorrow, but this can happen only by the chain of "karmas"

Question: Many good actions like benevolence are carried out with the intention of attaining "punya" (good luck). Let them attain punya as the fruit of benevolence, but those who commit inauspicious actions like violence and other sins, they cherish inauspicious karmas as the fruit of sins. Then why should they get those fruits?

Answer : For the fruit, there is no rule of intention. In other words, intention is not always necessary for the emergence of the fruit. It is not always necessary that intention of the fruit must be present there as the cause. In farming if unknowingly some seeds remain scattered in a field, they do sprout and give a crop, even if no intention of their fruit was cherished. Therefore, the rule is only this that where there is a totality of the cause the effect will necessarily be created whether there is intention or not. It is evident from normal experience that the service rendered without ambition and expectation of any praise, prize etc., is considered of the hightest order and gives the highest fruit, and greatest benefit. Similarly here even though people may not have an intention for inauspicious "karmas", violence and other vices necessarily bring those fruits. Why should we not believe in this truth?

If auspicious or inauspicious actions do not necessarily bring about any invisible effect, all souls would attain "moksa" at the end of this life. If there is no karma as the invisible effect of auspicious and inauspicious activities, how can there be after death any future strange state of samsar roaming in various births?

Question: Let there be the invisible fruit of auspicious activities like charity, benevolence etc., because they do not bear a visible fruit, but why should the inauspicious activites like violence etc., bear an invisible fruit, when they show the visible fruit like meat etc.?

Answer: You may compromise in your mind by thinking so and you may not believe in the invisible fruit of sinful actions, but then this difficulty arises that those who commit only sinful actions like violence will attain necessarily "moksa". Those who do noble deeds will have to remain entangled in samsar to experience the invisible fruits of their actions, because then in the new birth (next life) also they will carry out such noble actions, due to which they will attain new auspicious karmas and they will bring again a new future birth. Thus they will remain entangled in the samsar. But this is merely a whim or imagination, because as a matter fact if all the sinful people would have attained "moksa", how is it that there are in the world at present so many people who commit sins like violence, speaking false-hood etc.? If only benevolent people would have remained in the world, then there would have remained only happy people; but this is not the case in the world, because in this world countless unhappy beings are seen. On the other hand countless beings are seen committing sins. From this it is evident that the evil actions may have visible fruits, but their invisible fruit is surely produced and that is the "karma". And those who commit such sins shall have to experience anguish as a result. In the world those who commit sins are infinite and those who suffer agonies are also infinite. It means that sorrows are the effects of evil actions according to mathematical equations.

Question: Those who commit such evil actions as violence do not intend to get the invisible fruit of their inauspicious karmas, yet they get it, and though we wish for a visible fruit of our auspicious actions many times, we do not get it. Why?

Answer: This also is a great proof of karmas. On account of jiva's "Kasaya" sentiments of pride, illusion, greed, anger and "yoga" bodily vocal and mental actions, the invisible effect namely 'karma' is definitely created. Therefore, on account of actions like violence, the invisible karmas are definitely created. Whereas the visible fruits appear only on the ripening of the relative karmas of the previous birth but not otherwise. On account of this reason, though people equipped with the same sources carry on the same business, many of them do not get the profit they desire, or there occurs a difference in the profit they get. Though the visible sources may be the same there occurs a difference between the fruits of happiness and sorrow. Here it must be accepted that the reason behind this difference lies in the difference between the previous karmas which are invisible. Here you should not say, "How can a thing invisible work i.e. can produce anything!" because behind the visible effect like a pot, the invisible cause like atoms are undoubtedly accepted as working.

Question All right. Then too, are not these invisible karmas owing to their being relative of the formless soul, proved as formless quality of the soul?

Answer No. There is no rule, that the substance connected with the soul always must be formless, because you see the body though connected with the soul is not formless.

"Karma has form." This can be proved on the following five grounds.

1. The effects that possess a form have causes which possess a form, just as the atoms which are the cause of the pot, have a form. But when the effect is formless this rule does not apply to the case; for example, intelligence is a formless effect, but its cause namely the soul does not possess a form. Since the effect of karmas namely the body has a form, karmas also are proved to be possessing a form.

2. Due to the contact of which happiness is experienced, that thing possesses a form. For example we feel happiness by eating food, and food has a form. In the same manner, contact of karma brings happiness, so it should be believed to possess a form.

3. Due to the contact of which thing pain is felt, that thing also possesses a form. For example, by touching fire. In the same manner, owing to the contact of certain ripened karmas pain is experienced, so they (karmas) should be believed to have a form.

Question: Intelligence in the form of good and evil thoughts has its effect on our health. How can that principle be applied here because the intelligence is formless and physical health possesses a form.

Answer: Even there, the thoughts that cause those effects like pleasure or pain also possess a form they having been formed out of the Manasa vargana (mental particles ) which possess a form.

4. "Those things that are different from the soul and from their qualities like knowledge and which are nourished by external causes, possess a form". For instance, just as a pot gets nourished and grows strong when it is treated with oil. In the same manner, punya (good fortune) is nourished by good deeds and misfortune is nourished by evil deeds. Therefore, the good fortune and misfortune have a form. In the above said words "different from knowledge, etc." are used only because the knowledge, even though nourished by external objects like the teacher, books and medicinal herbs possessing a form, is formless.

5. The effect of which cause is modifiable, that cause itself is modifiable. (Moreover, the thing karma is different from the soul, and is modifiable so it possesses a form.) For instance, the effect of milk is curds. If the effect curds is a modifiable thing because it undergoes further modifications like buttermilk, butter etc. then milk itself is a modifiable thing, and it is a substance possessing a form. The milk which produces these effects has a form and is a substance. In short that thing whose effect undergoes further modifications is itself a substance possessing a form and is capable to undergo modifications. In the same manner, the body etc. being the effects of karmas, and being modifiable substances the karmas themselves must be believed to be modifiable substance, undergoing modification. So it must be possessing a form.

Question: Karma is also the effect of the soul, and it is also a modifiable thing, so even the soul as a cause would be a substance undergoing modification. Is it so?

Answer: You should not say so, because karma is not the effect of the pure soul. But it is the effect of the soul bound by karmas of a previous life, and the previous karmas are no doubt possessing form and are modifiable. If so, the soul bound by such karmas is also in some respect possessing a form and a modifiable thing.