Gita Rahasya -Tilak 291

Gita Rahasya -Tilak

CHAPTER X THE EFFECT OF KARMA AND FREEDOM OF WILL On the other hand, it is also not proper to disregard the ordinary meaning of the word 'kriyamana'. Therefore, instead of accepting the commonly accepted divi- sions of Karma in the samcita, prarabdha, and kriyamana, in discussing the process of suffering the results of Actions, I divide Karma into arabdha-karya ( Commenced Karma ) and anarabdha-kdrya ( Uncommenced Karma ) ; and that is also scientifically more convenient. The action of 'suffering' is divided, according to the tense, into 'that which has been suffered' ( past ), 'that which is now being suffered' ( present ), and 'that which has still to be suffered' (future). But, in the science of the Effects of Karma, Karma cannot be divided into three divisions in this way. Because, that portion of Accumulated Karma ( samcita ), which is suffered for after having become Commenced Karma ( prarabdha ), produces results which go again to 6well the ranks of Accumulated Karma (samcita): and, therefore, in considering the question of the suffering for Actions, it is not necessary to divide samcita further than into prarabdha, which means that which one has begun to suffer for, and anarabdha, which means that which one has not yet begun to suffer for. When the effects of all Actions have, in this way, been classified into a two-fold division, the science of the effects of Karma now tells us about the suffering of those effects, that Accumulated Karma is all that has to be suffered for. Out of this, those Actions, the suffering of the effects of which has resulted in one's acquiring the present birth, that is to say, that portion of Accumulated Karma which has become Commenced Karma, cannot be escaped suffering for — "prarabdhakarmanam bhogad evaksayah". In the same way as an arrow, which has left one's hands, cannot come back, but must go on upto its destination, or, as once the wheel of the potter starts to revolve, it will go on revolving until the force of the revolution has been exhausted, so also does prarabdha, that is, that Karma for the results of which one has begun to suffer, go on. Whatever has been started, must come to an end; there is no escape from it. But, the same is not the case with the Karma, which is anarabdha-karya- One can totally annihilate all this kind of Karma by means of Knowledge. As a result of this important difference between the Commenced Karma (prarabdha karya) and Uncommenced Karma (arnarabdha karya), the scient has got to patiently wait for a natural death, even after having acquired Knowledge, that is to say, until the Karma, which has started with his body coming to birth, comes to an end. If instead of doing so, he puts an end to his life, then, although he may have destroyed his anarabdha Karma by means of Knowledge, yet, he will have to take another birth for suffering the effects of that prarabdha-karma, which made him take the former birth, and the suffering of which has remained incomplete as a result of his perversity in putting an end to iis life ; and both the Vedanta and the Samkhya philosophy have drawn the conclusion that on that account he will necessarily not attain Belease Besides, committing suicide in defiance of these natural laws will be another Karma, which will have been started, and it will be necessary to take another birth to suffer the consequences of that Karma. From this, it will be clear, that from the point of view of the doctrine of Karma, even suicide is a madness.