EP7: Three Types of Karma

Commentaries by Vee Jay Attri during the Book Study - Secrets of Karma

We were talking about the hidden cause for all that we are experiencing. We had some wonderful quotations from the Holy Bible which are directly connected to the reincarnation where we mentioned about the disciples asking the Lord questions pertaining to reincarnations.

We also mentioned about a very profound statement from Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna.

As a man casting off worn-out garments, take new ones, so the dweller in the body casting off worn-out bodies, enter into new ones.
^{Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita}

This is a very beautiful profound statement which indicates that what changes are the vehicles and the soul keeps on migrating from one vehicle to another vehicle, lifetime after lifetime, until a time when it neutralizes whatever it is expected to. It learns and masters the lessons given in the different planes or dimensions including the physical, the astral and the mental worlds.

So, everything that you are experiencing now certainly has a connection with the past. Even the way you feel from time to time, the thoughts that are coming to you, all are basically stemming from your previous recordings that are stored in different planes of existence.

We shall continue with our discussion. As we continue with our discussions, this matter will become even more clearer.

Three Types of Karma

The ancient sages classified karma into three types and used the symbol of archery to explain them.

The stock of arrows in the archer’s case is the accumulated reserve of your karma from your past lifetimes, which are yet to ripen. It is Sanchita karma, or karma that is yet to fructify.

So, this is a very important and profound statement to make you know that eons of times, whatever karma that you have been generating is actually recorded. Sometimes, people call it Akashic records. From the esoteric point of view, we understand that all these different types of karmas are actually stored in a vehicle; we call it the Karan Sharir, also called causal body.

So, the causal body is actually the body of the higher soul. You, the incarnated soul, the soul in an embodiment, we call it the Jivatma. You have the gross physical body, together with the etheric body and you have the astral or the emotional body, also called Kamakosha or body of desire and then, you have the mental body; we call it the lower mental body.

The higher mental body is the causal body. So, within the causal body, you have the records of all the lifetimes of experiences. Based on whatever you have been accumulating in the past, a portion of that particular karma is brought in a lifetime to be worked out. That is where we come to the next one.

The arrow that has left its bow is that part of Sanchita karma you carry to work out in this lifetime. It is Prarabdha karma or fructified karma, karma that is ripe to reap.

So, out of the sum total of the karma which is actually symbolized by the stock of arrows in the archer’s case, you bring a portion of the karma, you cannot bring the whole lot. Even your body may not be existing, it will disintegrate to face that level of karma.

So, a small portion of that karma is brought into a particular lifetime to be worked out and this, we call it the fructified karma, in Sanskrit we call it the Prarabdha karma.

The arrow in the hand is Agami, or future karma, karma that is yet to mature for your actions of this life.

There are different explanations of the three different karmas. Some scholars have a different variation to that, but one of the most common and accepted version are these ones.

We have the Sanchita karma, the sum total. We have the prarabdha karma, the karma that we bring in any particular lifetime to be worked out. It can be good, it can be not so good and the Agami karma is the karma that is yet to be fructified for your action. The Agami karma, if not neutralized, gets added to Sanchita karma.

That means there is an option for you to work on the karma that you are generating in the present time, in this lifetime. Karma is not there to punish us; it is simply helping you to realize what you have done in the past and makes you to go through certain experiences that teach you the lessons.

The moment you learn the lessons, the karma connected with that particular activity is already neutralized. So, when we talk about neutralizing the karma, the karma is neutralized as soon as you learn the lesson that is connected with that particular activity or that particular karma.

So, that is the reason why, people endure lot of pain, lot of sufferings because of the inability to work out that karma since there is a tendency to keep on reacting over many experiences of life. The day when you learn the lessons properly, internally, the karma connected with that simply leaves you.

Now, because the experience of that karma is so intense, the lesson also tends to be very intense and that is exactly the reason why, the wise people do not go through so much of pain and sufferings. There is another option available for you to diminish the intensity of the lessons that you are expected to learn. This, we are going to discuss in the coming chapters.

The Agami karma, if not neutralized, gets added to Sanchita karma. While you may not know the cause of your Sanchita karma, you can however choose your present actions to balance the negative effects of Agami karma for your actions of this life.

Because Sanchita karma, being the sum total, it has been lingering for eons of time, lifetimes after lifetimes. Whatever that you have been accumulating, forms part of the sanchita karma.

Unless you go into a past life regression with the help of a great realized master, it is difficult for you to understand what had happened in the past. However, if you observe very carefully your present life, this will give you a very clear indication as to what kind of karma that you are expected to work out.

Even if you do not go into past life regression, just by carefully analyzing your present life, meaning activities that have been happening in the last 10-20 years, if you just go through them, you will find that there is a very clear indication of what exactly is happening with your life.

Some of the experiences are more or less like cyclic. You have got problem with one person, that person leaves you, then, again, you find that you are engaged with another person, again, the same problem is repeating.

In this way, we simply focus on changing the environment, changing people, changing conditions but we are not able to realize the underlining cause of what is happening to us and that is the reason why it is wise for you to ponder upon what is happening with your life.

So, the moment you start looking closely at your past, including the present experiences, there will be a kind of indication to you, what kind of karma or what kind of lessons that you are actually carrying with you.

Especially after meditations, you can ponder upon deeply, what lessons all these situations of my life are helping me to learn. Look into those lessons and master the lessons. The lessons could be anything. Repeatedly people are being unkind to you, it is an indication that in the past, you have been very unkind to people.

Can you possibly become a kinder person? Most importantly, as we said yesterday, mental karma. Can you avoid creating negative mental karma? Can you be kind in your speech, kind in your thoughts and kind in your actions?

So, the demand is because we are experiencing situations where people tend to be very unkind to you, and therefore, it is an indication that you have to practice loving kindness in thought, in speech, in actions. So, this is just an example I am taking.

In this way, if you very carefully analyze your life, every situation, every experience is actually giving you a set of lessons. It is not about the people, it is not about the situations or conditions. It is about the lessons that you are expected to master.

So, rather than blaming the situation, blaming the people around, it is wiser to look into what lesson do I need to get, using these people and the situations that are given to me? Focus on the cause of the problem. That is exactly what we are discussing.

While you may not know the cause of your Sanchita karma, that is the sum total of whatever that you have been generating for eons of times, you can however, choose our present actions to balance the negative effects of the Agami karma. Agami karma is the karma that you are performing now, for your actions of this life.

For instance, if you inflicted pain on someone, you can do good to that person to partly if not fully, offset the bad karma that can add as a result of your negative action.

All these types of karma have a positive or negative effect on you, depending upon the actions that created them.

For example, if you have positive Prarabdha karma, you will have good things in life, regardless of your present actions; you may do unwholesome actions and make others suffer yet, have a great life with all comforts of the world.

However, if you carry negative Prarabdha karma to work out in this lifetime, then despite your good nature and all benevolent actions, you can have a life full of pain and miseries.

Hence, there is perfect justice in ‘bad people’ having a good time and good people having a bad time, each reaping the fruits of their respective good or bad Prarabdha karma.

Further reading: Secrets of Karma, Three Types of Karma, Page 10