Gita Rahasya -Tilak 282

Karma Yoga Sastra -Tilak

CHAPTER X THE EFFECT OF KARMA AND FREEDOM OF WILL Then whether you say that this srsti came into existence out of Brahmadeva himself, or, in the words of the Mimamsa school, that it was . created by Brahmadeva from the eternal Vedic words, the meaning is the same . In short, Karma is the activity which is to be seen in the fundamental qualityless Brahman, at the time when the visible world began to be created. This activity is known as the Name-d and Form-ad Maya, and the activities of the Sun, the Moon, and all the other objects in the world have gradually come into existence from this fundamental Karma (Br. 3. 8. 9). Scients have determined by means of their Reason that this, Karma or Maya, performed at the time of the creation of the universe, which is the foundation of all the activities in the world, is some unknowable pastime (lila) of the Brahman, and not something independent of the Brahman. But, as the scients cannot go further, it is not possible for them to ascertain ' when ' this wonder, or these Names and Forms, or this Karma embodied in Maya first came into existence. Therefore, when it is necessary to consider only this Karma-world ( karma srsti ), it is usual in the Vedanta science to refer to this dependent, perishable Maya and, at the same time, the Karma which is appurtenant, to it, as 'eternal' (anadi). It must be borne in mind that the word 'anadi' in this place does not mean fundamentally 'without beginning ' ( nirarambha ) and independent, like the Paramesvara, as is maintained by the Samkhyas, but 'durjneyarambha ' that is, " something, the beginning of which cannot be known ". But, although we are not in a position to say definitely when and why the Knowledge-formed Brahman first began to take up the Appearance of the visible world, yet, the rules by which the further activities of this Karma in the shape of Maya go on, are fixed; and many of those rules can be determined by us. The order in which the various Name-d and Form-ed objects in the world came into existence out of the fundamental Prakrti, that is, out of eternal Karma in the shape of Maya, has been described by me according to the Samkhya philosophy in the eighth chapter of this book ; and I have, in the same place, mentioned the doctrines of modern Material sciences for comparison. It is true that Vedanta does not look upon Prakrti as self-created like the Parabrahman; but, as the further development of Prakrti, according to Samkhya philosophy, is acceptable to Vedanta, I will not repeat that subject-matter here. Yet, in the order of the creation of the universe from fundamental Prakrti in the shape of Karma, which has been described above, I have nowhere considered the ordinary rules according to which man has to suffer the results of Karma (Action). It is, therefore, necessary to consider those rules now. This is known as 'KARMA-VIPAKA*. (effect of Karma).