Types of Karma

Have you ever wondered why some people regularly face severe hardships despite being the nicest human beings, who are always helpful to their friends & family and even to strangers? On the contrary some individuals are endowed with success in all spheres of life like accumulated wealth and sound health despite being totally sadistic and causing harm & discomfort to everyone around them.

It seems a quite strange because if the laws of Karma were totally linear, and all types of Karma were equal and supposed to have the same consequence then we should find ourselves in an environment where all sins are punished immediately and all good deeds are rewarded suitably on the spot. However we all know that it is not even close to reality and we frequently witness situations where an honest hardworking employee watches in horror as all credit for his efforts is devoured by his cunning colleague who gets promotions and heavy bonuses in return. The poor honest employee gets loaded with additional work with no rewards in sight. Wouldn’t it be great if the credit-stealer was stuck by a sudden bolt of lightening and the honest guy uncovered a pot of gold. Alas such instant strokes of justice seem to occur only in fantasy tales.

To read about the laws of Karma click here -> Karma- What does it mean?

The reason we don’t see an instant reaction for every action in the realm of Karma is because not all Karmas are the same and not all of them fructify at the same pace. All actions that we undertake on day to day basis can be classified into 3 broad categories.

Prarabdha Karma- This refers to Karma which is ready to be fructified, and we will be facing it’s consequences now, whether pleasant or harsh will depend on the underlying actions either from past lives or during earlier phase of this life. To consider an example suppose you helped a friend financially during past life when he/she desperately needed it. The positive reaction of this good deed was not realised earlier as you were never in a situation when you required such support. Now you are in a financial mess then you will receive an unexpected help from a person who is reincarnate of the person you had helped out in the previous life.

Sanchit Karma- This refers to actions which is getting accumulated as per your actions, thoughts and decisions everyday but is not yet ready to fructify. It will mature later in this life or the life thereafter depending on the right set of circumstances which enable it to mature. For example you are a corrupt banker in this life who swindles the bank of millions, then this will be an accumulated action which will fructify in the next life when you are robbed by someone of your entire life savings in an instant.

Agami Karma- This refers to your future Karmas. This is not fixed and constantly getting refreshed everyday with the kind of actions you take. If you are undertaking positive actions on a regular basis then it will be a positive culmination and if you regularly perform acts which harm your surroundings then it will have a negative bearing in the future.

As per the Vedas (ancient Hindu scriptures), the main objective of the soul is to free itself from the cycle of karma, so once the net Karma becomes zero you soul can attain Nirvana which means freedom from bondage of actions.

This is the reason why Yogis practice solitude to eliminate these dependencies and bondages created by day to day actions. They also refrain from material transactions like lending money as it will mean they will need a rebirth to pay off the loans. In Vedic culture you are not supposed to let a beggar eave empty handed from your door as he may be someone who owes you something from a previous life, and shunning him is just pushing you deeper into the cycle of rebirths.

Your aim in life thus should be to help as many people you encounter to the best of your abilities, and abstain from taking any material debts unless it is totally unavoidable.

May god bless you all!