Sūtra 2.13-14

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of sūtra 2.13-14:

सति मूले तद्विपाको जात्यायुर्भोगाः ॥ २.१३ ॥
ते ह्लादपरितापफलाः पुण्यापुण्यहेतुत्वात् ॥ २.१४ ॥

sati mūle tadvipāko jātyāyurbhogāḥ || 2.13 ||
te hlādaparitāpaphalāḥ puṇyāpuṇyahetutvāt || 2.14 ||

(13) As long as kleśa remains at the root, karmāśaya produces three consequences in the form of birth, span of life and experience. (14) Because of virtue and vice these (birth, life-span and experience) produces pleasurable and painful experience.

Ancient and Modern interpretation:

Lord Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavadgītā says,^[1]

“Having attained to the worlds of the righteous and having dwelt there for everlasting (long) years, he who had fallen from yoga is born again in the house of pure and the wealthy.”

Different men are born in different circumstances, as in some are poor, some are rich, some are goodlooking, some are ugly.Why this discrimination is done and who decides it? According to law of karma, your sañcita karma (which is storehouse of all karmas) decides where you will be born, what will be your gender, your lifespan and your prārabdha in your life.

Hariharānanda Araṇya has explained^[2] some general rules related to principle of karmas—

1) One karmāśaya is not responsible for many births.

2) the preposition that one karma brings about one birth is also not correct.

3) Many karmas do not cause many births simultaneously.

4) Many karmas go to bring one birth appears to be correct rule.

5) The karmāśayas responsible for a birth also determine the span of life and experience of pleasure and pain within.

6) Karmāśaya is mainly accumulated in one life

7) The outcome of karmāśaya will bear fruit in future life as-Birth, duration of existence and experience of pleasure and pain.

8) Karmāśaya is of one birth, but Vasana is of many births.

9) Karmāśayas are of two kinds, those which mature and those which may not mature.Those which must produce results are nityavipāka and those, being influenced by others, cannot produce results are called anitya vipāka.

10) Uni-genital birth(life)is the general rule for karmāśayas.

11) Nityavipāka are operative only in one birth.

12) For anitya vipāka, the karma may be nullified e.g. virtue may be destroyed by vice etc.

Taimni explains^[3] that law of karma is the expression of most perfect justice that we can conceive of.Since karma is a natural law with mathematical precision,we can to a certain extent predict the karmic results of our actions and thoughts by imagining the consequences.

Osho explains^[4] that the whole philosoply of karma is that you are responsible.Whatever you have sown in the past you are reaping.The whole process of pratiprasava i.e. to go back to the cause from effect.Here while going backwards,one should not throw responsibility on others’ shoulders, while going into past,remember and relive the past. Pratiprasava is reliving your past, close your eyes, lie down and move backwards. You can try it in a simple way.

He further states,^[5] one should live with full awareness and live in present.Then no seeds of karma are accumulated.He says awareness is freedom, unawareness is bondage.If you are in misery, you are unhappy because of your previous karmas.

Every religion has this virtue/ vice principle.The doctrine of karma says if you help someone, realistically you are helping your own self.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

B, G.VI.41 — [...]

[2]:

Araṇya, op.cit,p.140

[3]:

Taimni, op.cit,p.161

[4]:

Osho, op.cit., p.181-188

[5]:

Ibid., p.198