Commentaries by Vee Jay Attri during the Book Study – Secrets of Karma
Let us continue with our study from the Secrets of Karma. Yesterday we were talking about the principle of interconnectedness. How we are connected with every person, every being on the planet. How every thought, every emotion has an impact on the well-being of the sentient beings and therefore, we were talking about the immense responsibility, especially for the spiritual practitioners to sustain a very high level purity of thoughts and emotions.
So, we concluded with the last sentence:
On the spiritual path, there is no place for depression, worry or fear.
Let us proceed to the next Key.
Karma and Dharma.
A very, very important subject. Of course, Karma and Dharma, the way we are pronouncing in English is okay, good but the actual pronunciation is Karam and Dharam. That is how it is pronounced in Hindi. That is the root of the words.
‘‘Those who live by the law of the jungle die by the law of the jungle.’’
Lord Krishna
The word ‘Dharma’ encompasses all that sustains righteousness and can mean justice, duty or truth.
Duty includes your karmic obligations, the seven levels that we discussed earlier.
Sometimes we are perplexed on the issue of what is right and what is wrong since either way, action or inaction seems justified.
Inaction comes when you have to play the role of an observer. We said, Sakshi Dhrishta – learning to be an observer, but that comes only when you have done whatever best you could do.
If you simply become a spectator to everything that is happening around you, that is actually being indifferent. There is a difference between being indifferent or irresponsible or careless and being an observer. Where you have to take a sword, you have to take a sword.
That is exactly is the trait of a spiritual warrior but you take the sword and if necessary cut the person into pieces, not literally. You maintain a very high level of economity, inner peace. If you are going to do it out of vengeance or anger, then, that act will actually bind you.
It is a very, very deep subject. So, when we talk about a state of being an observer, we also, refer to the state of being a Karma yogi. Doing for the sake of doing and not getting attached to the fruits of the actions. Doing for the sake of doing without any desire, without any negative emotions including anger or hatred and doing this basically because it is the right thing to do.
Same thing is applicable when you are helping somebody. The moment you have a desire that the person should be grateful to you or should reciprocate what you are doing in some way, at least by saying thank you to you or being kind to you in some other way, that is actually a desire, an expectation.
“Koi bhi prakar ki apiksha aapko baandh lete hai” – Any form of expectation binds you karmically. That is the reason why, you need to transcend the expectation and do an act for the sake of doing it. That is exactly what we call dharma. So, this is a very, very profound subject that we are going to read now.
And the master of this particular topic is no other than the Lord himself, Lord Krishna. The word ‘Dharma’ encompasses all that sustains righteousness and can mean justice, duty or truth. Sometimes we are perplexed on the issue of what is right and what is wrong, since either way action or inaction seems justified.
Remember, inaction is necessary only when you have done whatever best you could do. Inaction means practicing what we call, being in a state of observer. Inaction is also a state where we call it Akarma, grossly translated as Neutral Actions.
So, that is a very important subject, some other time once again, we will talk about what it means to be a Karma yogi.
Here, one needs to discriminate between right and more right.
There are two aspects. One is right. Yes, it is right to be kind to people all the time but it is more right to help people to evolve and that is exactly the reason why, if necessary, you have to take a stick, like you do it with the children because kindness shown in the wrong place at the wrong time can actually cause injury to that person. That person will not learn and causing more harm to that person with your inaction.
There are many instances in the Mahabharata where Lord Krishna appears to have violated Dharma but had to do so to sustain Dharma.
That is the paradox. On one side, you are violating the Dharma. On the other side, you are violating because you have to sustain Dharma. So, if you do not understand spiritual paradoxes, as our Teacher used to say, you cannot progress spiritually.
So, many such paradoxes will happen in your life, especially within the spiritual family. You need to understand why it is happening and what is the inner meaning behind all that. So, do not jump into any conclusions, do not make any judgement. You have to understand that paradox is a part and parcel of the spiritual development.
One such example is the episode of the duel between Duryodhana and Bhima:
So, Duryodhana is the villain in the epic called Mahabharata and Bhima is a part of the family called Pandavas. He is considered to be a physically strong person.
Bhima could not subdue Duryodhana as he was equal in strength in the art of mace warfare. For Krishna, killing Duryodhana was very necessary to sustain Dharma. Moreover, it was Duryodhana who instigated the war unjustly which resulted in the destruction of almost an entire clan. So, knowing the weak spot of Duryodhana, Krishna signalled Bhima to hit him below the waist.
Now, there is a very interesting story connected to it. You must have heard about this.
Just before the war started, Duryodhana had his mother by name Ghandari, a very, very amazing character in the epic Mahabharata. So, Ghandari, the mother of Duryodhana, because her husband was blind and therefore, she lived blindfolded throughout her life. Now, she was a very, very powerful woman, extraordinary spiritual power.
So, just before the war, knowing the danger that is falling on his son Duryodhana, she told Duryodhana: “My dear son, you please come to me naked, completely naked, I will bless you for Divine Protection!”
So, Duryodhana was moving towards the place of his mother Ghandari and Lord Krishna, he knew the purpose behind that because he realised that if Duryodhana is shielded by his mother, nobody can kill him and consequently, the Pandavas will lose the war against unrighteousness.
So, as Duryodhana was proceeding towards the chamber of his mother Ghandari, Lord Krishna stopped him and Duryodhana was naked.
He said: “Hey come on! You are going to meet your mother and you are naked. It is actually a sign of disrespect to a woman. At least, cover what you need to cover.”
So, Duryodhana realized that “Yes, yes, what Lord is saying is correct.”
So, he basically put a loincloth in wherever he had to put and then he approached his mother. He just tied that particular portion, just to show respect to his mother and then the mother, she opened her blindfold and then the power that radiated from her eyes shielded the whole part of Duryodhana, the entire body excepting the place where he tied the cloth.
That was the story. So, knowing this weak spot, that’s exactly where Krishna gave a hint to Bhima during the war.
So, knowing the weak spot of Duryodhana, Krishna signalled Bhima to hit him below the waist and thus Bhima smashed Duryodhana’s thighs and left him to bleed to death. Duryodhana yelled that it was injustice and against Dharma to hit a warrior below the waist. He called Balarama, his teacher, who saw what had happened. Enraged, he wanted to kill Bhima but Krishna calmed him saying:“Those who will by the law of jungle die by the law of the jungle.”
It was right not to violate the rules of the war but it was more right to violate them for the sake of Dharma.
You have to distinguish between right and more right.
Further reading: Secrets of Karma, Page 136-138