Question & Answer sessions with HH Sri Datta Vijayananda Teertha Swamiji – 2015
Karma
Question :
Three types of Karma are mentioned, Agami, Sanchita, and Prarabdha. Won’t this Yuga itself become Satya Yuga if individuals exhaust all their Karma in the current lifetime itself to avoid carryover of Karma leading to rebirth?
Answer :
The question is, why not experience the consequences of all three types of Karma in the present birth itself? That is true.
Exhaustion of Karma is required till there is nothing further left to do. How to attain that state? Not by the performance of Karma because Karma leads to more Karma. It will come only with enlightenment, by which all Karma vanishes and one becomes free.
Then the option remains of taking birth or remaining without a body. If someone like Sanatkumara takes birth, wherever he is born, it will become Satya Yuga. Wherever Jeevanmuktas are born, this same Kali Yuga gets transformed into Satya Yuga. In the ashrama now, does it appear like Kali Yuga? No. There is no need for us to lament that we are born in the Kali Yuga. In Sadguru’s presence, we are experiencing Satya Yuga or Krita Yuga.
It is very important to exhaust all Karma. Agami is the result of Karma that is yet to come. Even that gets voided once Jnana is attained. Prarabdha is what supports the body. The body lasts till it gets exhausted. Whatever the body is destined to experience, it has to experience. It is inescapable. That is why Sri Krishna Paramatma declared to Arjuna that there is no question of his running away from the battlefield. Even if he wishes to do so, his Karma will force him to stand and fight. Krishna could discern Arjuna’s Prarabdha Karma.
One method is to completely surrender to Karma and experience all that is due and attain Liberation. The other method is to keep doing good deeds, get the mind purified and attain perfect Jnana.
Once liberated, the question of rebirth does not exist. Only the Jeevanmuktas sometimes opt to take birth to fulfill their chosen missions. They come to save the souls of their devotees. To reach their level, exhaustion of Karma is required. This is a good question. I have answered it partially. I will give the complete answer later.
Jaya Guru Datta