A World of Knowledge

Doctrine of Karma

Part 2/3: Karma and Free Will

A video presentation by Swami Tadatmananda Saraswati, Arsha Bodha Center, United States

(Tapescript) Welcome. In our previous presentation on the doctrine of karma, we discussed how our actions sometimes produce unexpected, unpredictable results due to hidden variables, which are unseen factors that can influence the outcome of an action.

These hidden variables are, in part, due to the fructification of adrishta phala. Adrishta phala is a result that is unseen, adrishta, at the time a karma is performed.

So, adristha phala is a result that is pending, waiting to fructify at some later time. And, it is this adrishta phala that we refer to as “my karma,” when we talk about the results of past actions that affect us in the present life.

All this was discussed before and is summarized on the chart.

In this presentation, our inquiry into the doctrine of karma will continue with an examination of how the outcome of every action is actually due to the combination of two main factors: adrishta phala and human effort.

For guidance in this matter, we can turn to the third book of the Mahabharata, the Aranyaka Parva. There, we find an elaborate depiction of the trials and tribulations undergone by the Pandavas during their 12 years of exile in the forest.

In chapter 33, there is a remarkable dialogue between Yudhishthira and his wife, Draupadi. Their discussion is focused on how a righteous crown prince like Yudhishthira could end up suffering the injustice of exile, with all the humiliation and misery that it entails.

To Yudhishthira’s surprise, Draupadi proclaims some exceedingly profound teachings about the doctrine of karma.

To account for her amazing depth of knowledge, she explains that when she was a little girl, her father, Drupada, had invited a wise brahmana to live with them. This brahmana had been blessed with great wisdom by none other than Brihaspati, the deity who served as priest and guru to the gods in heaven. The brahmana imparted this great wisdom to Drupada, including teachings about the doctrine of karma. At those times, Draupadi sat in her father’s lap, absorbing everything the brahmana taught.

In verse 30, Draupadi gives three different ways of explaining how EVERYONE is subject to undergo undeserved suffering in life, even a righteous person like Yudhishthira.

First, she says, sarvam eva hathenaike, eke, some people say that sarvam, everything that happens in life is hathena, is due to hatha, chance, occurring entirely at random.

Secondly, she says, dishtenaike vadantyuta, breaking the words apart, eke vadanti, other people say, everything that happens in life is dishta, ordained or determined by the adrishta phalas that fructify in this life.

Thirdly, she says, purusha-prayatnajam kecit. Kecit, other people say that everything that happens in life is due to purusha prayatna, the effort, prayatna, of a person, purusha.

Then she concludes, tridham etan niruchyate, etat, this topic, about everything that happens in life, nirucyate, is explained, tridham, in three different ways; as being due to chance, due to adrishta phala, or due to purusha prayatna, human effort.

We need to expand on Draupadi’s observation here. Let’s start with the third line.

Many people profess that our lives are shaped exclusively by the decisions we make and the efforts we exert. They say, we are all born with free will, so each of us is the captain of his own ship, so to speak. We are free to choose any course we want as we navigate the river of life.

This sounds good, but such people fail to acknowledge the hidden variables that can and do affect us while we’re sailing down the river of life.

In a sailboat, you can control your direction with the rudder, but you can’t control the wind. If the wind blows in the wrong direction, your progress will be stalled. And if the wind stops altogether, your sailboat won’t move an inch.

Using our free will, we can choose to act, but we can’t choose the outcome of that action.

Sri Krishna says this very clearly in the most frequently quoted verse in the Bhagavad Gita: karmanyevadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadacana, te adhikarah, you have authority, command, or choice, karmani eva, over your actions alone, ma phaleshu, but you have no command or choice over the results of those actions, kadacana, at any time.

Simply put, we can choose our actions, but we can’t choose the results, because the results are partly determined by our adrishta phala, as we discussed before.

In the first line, Draupadi describes the view of others who are less optimistic. They believe that the hidden variables which affect us in life are basically random. When the outcome of an action is better or worse than expected, according to them, it’s not due to the fructification of adrishta phala; it’s merely a matter of chance. So, there’s a 50-50 chance of an outcome being better or worse than expected.

No doubt, randomness is a fact of nature. The smoke from an incense stick will spread out in a room even if the air is perfectly still. The random motion of air molecules is responsible for this phenomenon.

Yet, there’s no basis for saying that ALL hidden variables are random. What looks random might indeed be due to the fructification of adrishta phala.

A scientist will say that your genes are selected at random, some from your mother’s DNA, and some from your father’s. But it’s also possible that your genes have been determined by your adrishta phala according to the laws of karma.

We noted before that scientists can’t investigate adrishta phala, because it’s unobservable. So, they can’t dismiss the possibility that your genome has been determined according to the laws of karma.

For this reason, it’s not true that ALL hidden variables are random. Some may be random, but some may be due to your past karma.

In the second line, Draupadi describes the view of those who misinterpret the doctrine of karma. They correctly say that the hidden variables in life are dishta, ordained or determined by our adrishta phala from deeds committed before.

But, they make a mistake by claiming that everything that happens in life is determined EXCLUSIVELY by our adrishta phala, and not by anything else. This view totally negates the role of human effort in producing results. And it also negates the possibility of any randomness in the universe.

They go too far in claiming that adrishta phala is the sole factor in determining the outcome of our actions.

Yet, some people cling to this misconception.

And this misconception is particularly harmful, because if the outcome of every action you perform is determined by your adristha phala alone, then your efforts really don’t make any difference. And if your efforts don’t make any difference, then why should you bother making an effort at all?

This unfortunate misconception can lead people to be resigned, submissive, and fatalistic.

All three of the views described by Draupadi claim that one factor and one factor alone is responsible for the outcome of an action.

But the truth is, all three of the factors are jointly responsible for what happens. And, that’s exactly what Draupadi explains in the next verse.

Starting with the third line, purushah phalam apnoti, purusha, a person, apnoti obtains, phalam the results of an action, kincid daivad partly due to daiva, which refers to adrishta phala, dhathaat kincit, and partly due to hatha, chance, kincid eva svakarmatah, and partly svakarmatah, due to one’s efforts.

Caturtham naatra kaaranam. na atra, there is no caturtham, fourth kaaranam, cause or factor.

It's the combination of all three factors - chance, adrishta phala, and human effort - that determines the result of a particular action.

This is a central teaching of the doctrine of karma, and is very clearly described here by Draupadi.

Now, we can turn to a traditional metaphor that vividly demonstrates how these factors affect us in our lives.

Suppose you were to swim across a river. You start out swimming directly towards your destination on the far bank, but the current sweeps you a bit downstream from that spot.

In this metaphor, swimming represents the human effort you exert in the performance of any karma, and the river’s current represents the effects of your adrishta phala. You can think of it as a karmic current, since it represents the force of your past karmas.

The randomness described before is not a major factor in this particular metaphor.

Even though the water molecules are moving randomly, it really doesn’t make any difference here, so we’ll set this factor aside for now.

The purpose of this metaphor is to show that the outcome of your actions depends jointly on these two main factors: human effort and past karma. The importance of either factor cannot be discounted.

This metaphor is also useful in answering several common questions about the doctrine of karma.

First of all, can the force of our past karmas make it impossible for us to reach our goals?

Not necessarily, as this metaphor shows.

Does the river’s current make it impossible for you to reach your goal on the far bank?

There are several ways to reach that spot. You could swim across the river and then walk up the other side. Or, you could walk up the near side of the river and then swim across. Or, if you’re really smart, you could swim across the river at the exact angle that compensates for the force of the current.

These examples nicely demonstrate how we can accommodate or compensate for the effects of past karmas in our lives.

We often do this instinctively, without even thinking about karma. When you’re driving, and traffic on the road is too heavy, you take another route. When you want a raise in salary at work but your supervisor refuses, you get yourself transferred to another department.

When obstacles in life arise due to the fructification of past karmas, we often instinctively respond by taking the necessary steps to either remove the obstacles or to find a way to go around them.

There’s another aspect of the laws of karma nicely demonstrated by this metaphor. The strength or intensity of the effects of our past karmas can vary considerably.

Sometimes the force of the karmic current in life can be extremely strong, perhaps due to the fructification of adristha phala arising from extremely powerful past actions. But sometimes, the force exerted by our past karmas can be quite weak.

In the case of the river, if the current is fairly weak, and if you’re strong swimmer, it won’t affect you much. You could even swim directly upstream.

In the same way, if the force exerted by the fructification of your past karma is fairly weak, and if you exert sufficient effort, you can overcome any and all obstacles created by your past karma.

On the other hand, there are times in life when the force exerted by the fructification of our past karmas is exceedingly strong. At such times, we need to employ suitable strategies to meet those challenges.

Suppose the river we’ve been talking about lies in India, and you arrive at its banks during the monsoon season, when heavy rains have caused the river to swell, turning it into a violent torrent of rushing water. If you were to try to swim across the river, you would certainly drown.

This scenario represents the times in life when the force of our past karmas is overwhelming. No matter how hard we might try, we will not be able to overcome the unyielding force of such powerful karmic currents.

But, in such situations, failure or disaster is not inevitable. Even though we have no choice or control over the powerful adrishta phalas that are fructifying, we always have choice over our actions.

This is a crucially important principle.

No matter what kind of obstacles our past karmas might produce, we can always choose how we respond in any situation. We are never truly helpless.

To illustrate this, if the river is a raging torrent, only a fool would jump in. A wise person would wait for the monsoon season to end, and for the river to return to its normal, placid state. Then he or she could easily swim across.

In the same way, when insurmountable obstacles are created by our past karmas, the best response might simply be to wait. When heavy traffic grinds to a halt, or when the boss says no to your request for a raise, patience is required.

Before long, the traffic will start moving again, and you might find that your supervisor eventually changes his mind about your raise if you continue to work hard with a good attitude in spite of his refusal.

Also, there’s another intelligent way to respond to the obstacle presented by the swollen river. You could choose a different destination, on this side of the river, instead of a spot on the far bank.

This example points to the fact that there are many important goals in life worthy of being sought.

When we meet with insurmountable obstacles created by our past karmas, sometimes we need to re-evaluate our goals. If we are flexible enough to make the necessary adjustments, we can continue to move forward in life by shifting the direction of our efforts towards a new objective.

If the traffic is so bad, maybe you don’t really need to go to Starbucks for that coffee. And when your supervisor says no to your request for a raise, you could certainly look for another job. As they say, when one door closes, another opens.

Based on all this, we are never, ever helpless in the face of our past karmas. To assume you are helpless is an utterly self-defeating mistake.

To understand this, suppose a foolish person accidently falls into the river, and realizes a powerful current is sweeping him downstream. If he feels helpless, he might panic and wildly thrash about in the water. While he’s doing so, he’ll continue to be swept downstream, towards the rocks and waterfall.

This example demonstrates what can happen when we suddenly find ourselves thrust into situations that are frightening and threatening, situations born of our past papa karmas, situations for which we are totally unprepared.

Suppose your car accidentally veers off the road and ends up in a ditch. If you become frozen by panic and fear, how will you get out of the ditch?

In other situations, instead of panic and fear, your mind might be flooded by anger and resentment, like if a careless driver were to crash into your car. If you respond by shouting a nonstop flow of verbal abuse, your impulsive and foolish behavior will only succeed in making a bad situation even worse.

When our past karmas give rise to frightening or threatening situations, what can we do to respond more effectively?

To answer that question, consider what an intelligent person would do after accidentally falling into the river. She might allow herself to float downstream for a few moments, to calm herself and to determine the strength and direction of the current. Then, armed with this knowledge, she can figure out how to safely swim back to the near bank.

Based on this example, if your car ends up in a ditch or struck by another car, an intelligent response might be to wait a few moments before doing anything, to calm yourself and allow the adrenaline rush to fade away.

Those few moments can not only help settle your emotions, but they can also give you an opportunity to better understand the karmic current into which you have been swept. Then, with a composed mind and thoughtful deliberation, you can respond more appropriately and effectively to the situation.

In times of crisis, they say, don’t just sit there, do something.

But based on these observations, it might be better to take the opposite approach: don’t just do something, sit there. That means, don’t just act impulsively, take some time to compose yourself and to think clearly before you act.

Of course, in stressful situations, many people find it difficult to avoid panic, fear, anger, and impulsive behavior.

In the heat of the moment, when your past karma fructifies by thrusting you into a new crisis, the way you respond depends largely on your state of mind.

Some people’s minds are naturally more composed and resilient, whereas others are more easily thrown off balance.

For those who are subject to being thrown off balance in this way, regular prayer and meditation can bring about a tremendous decrease in the mind’s reactivity and instability.

Over the years, I have witnessed this transformation in myself and in many other spiritual practitioners. Regular prayer and meditation definitely helps develop an inner poise or calmness that persists even in stressful situations.

Your own ongoing practice can help you remain steadfast at that so-called “still point at the center of the storm” each time you encounter the challenges that arise due to the fructification of papa karma.

Then, blessed by the fruits of your spiritual practice, you can more calmly and confidently navigate your way along the river of life.

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Doctrine of Karma

Part 2/3: Karma and Free Will

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