Part 4.8 - Doctrine of karma

[Full title: The Concept and Content of Patanjali Yogadarsana (8): Doctrine of karma]

Maharshi Patanjali also believes in doctrine of karma like other philosophers and quoted few sutras on karma and karmasaya. An individual is born with few characteristics or samskaras and creates lots of tendencies as he grows up. These tendencies in the form of karma have been created by his past thoughts and actions. Every human life is like a flowing current in which two processes are at work simultaneously, working out of karma made in the past and the generation of new karma which will bear fruits in the future. All this is recorded in karmasaya, the reservoir of karma.

Patanjali clarifies through this sutra that klesas (afflictions) are the underlying cause of the karma we generate by our thoughts, actions and desires. They will bear fruits, both in this life and in lives to come^[1]. So long as the cause exists, karmasaya operates and it will bear fruits such as rebirth, a long or a short life and the experiences of pleasure and pain, which are again fruits of merits (punya) and demerits (apunya or papa) respectively. These are the principal features that determine the nature of a life. The law of karma is the expression of the most perfect justice that we can conceive of. But the man of spiritual discrimination regards all these experiences whether good or bad as painful. Even pleasures are also painful as we have fear of loosing them or renewed cravings arise from the impressions it has left upon the mind and ever-warring gunas seizes control of the mind^[2].

Yogasutra 4.7^[3] clarifies that for a Yogi, karmas are neither white (good or meritful) nor dark (bad or sinful). For others, these karmas are of three types. They are good, bad and mixed type (partially sinful and partially meritful) depending upon his expectation and desire of fruits. The white-black mixed veriety is accomplished by the external means like ritual actions. There can be fourth veriety which is neither white nor black of the renouncers who yet, have got their last bodies after destroying afflictions. Accordingly, the result would be painful or pleasurable. The real Yogi has to get rid of all of them by remaining detached from them; therefore, all are same for him. Most of the sadhakas keep on trying to control mind in the practice of meditation, but do not succeed as they are unable pay attention towards control of desires. If the driving force of desires is eliminated completely, the mind comes to rest naturally, which is niruddha state as per Patanjali.

The attraction and consequent attachment due to our contact with the objects of senses is the cause of bondage, which must be destroyed by the practice of Vairagya. The consciousness of perfect mastery of desires in case of one who has ceased to crave for objects, seen or unseen is vairagya^[4]. The true sadhaka has to go further beyond this vasikara state, going beyond all three attributes (gunas)–sattva, rajas and tamas. This is a stage of gunavaitrsnyam as mentioned in Yogasutra 1.16^[5], which says that indifference to the gunas (qualities of nature) due to knowledge of Purusa is the highest kind of renunciation.

From all these, it is clear that the desire or personal attachment is the prime motive power of action in the case of ordinary people which produces the tendencies and potentialities resulting into bondage of karma giving us pleasant or painful experiences. Thus, accumulation of karma is result of vasanas depending upon the control of an individual over it. This control can be attained through various yoga practices. This chain of karma to samskaras (impressions) to fruits of another karma to samskaras again is broken by a Yogi by keeping himself detached from both the fruits and expectation of the same. He keeps on abolishing all past karmas without any accumulation of new karmas.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

kleśamūlaḥkarmāśayodṛṣṭādṛṣṭajanmavedanīyaḥ || Patanjali Yoga Sutra, 2.12

[2]:

Ibid., 2.13 to 2.15

[3]:

karmāśuklākṛṣṇaṃ yoginastrividhamitareṣām || Patanjali Yoga Sutra, 4.7, P.V.Karambelkar, Patanjala Yogasutra, Kaivalyadham, Lonavla, p.504

[4]:

Taimni I.K.,The science of Yoga, The Theosophical Publishing House, Chennai, 2005, sutra 1.15

[5]:

tatparaṃ puruṣakhyāterguṇavaitṛṣṇyam || Patanjali Yoga Sutra 1.16 ||