Karma types and results

Chapter IV

Fourfold result of Action: Objective n Subjective

Immediate Long term Immediate Long term

Recipient is Lots of Mental Sowing of satisfied and reward in satisfaction seed of happy future births and serenity habit resulting in Samskara/ tendency/ habit

Akarma
Karma Vikarma

In the Gita it is stated that as man falls more and more deep in the pit of sin and darkness, his redemption and ascent to light by the incarnation of God also approaches nearer. God takes birth on earth when darkness reaches its utmost limit. The periods of transition when we are on the threshold of a brighter world or the transformed world writes Jagdish Saran Agarwal, are always marked by the height of darkness and turmoil (62). Sri Aurobindo sings of the glorious descent of the Avatara in such a gloomy situation in the poem In the Moonlight:

He rises now; for God has taken birth. The revolutions that pervade the world Are faint beginnings and the discus hurled Of Vishnu speeds down to enring the earth The old shall perish; it shall pass away, Expunged, annihilated, blotted out; And all the iron bands that ring about Mans wide expansion shall at last give way. In the Moonlight

Avatara

Nature and purpose

Avatar Is the incarnation of the Supreme in human form therefore omnipotent Takes birth out of his own will Not bound by Karma, all his actions are non-actions

Ordinary birth Is a soul manifesting on a human body as a part of the life-death cycle therefore has limited capacities Takes birth without any choice/will as per the law of Karma Bound by his Karma

Knows his true self and identity Ignorant of his true identity and is and is a master of Yoga and prakriti under the control of maya Comes when the balance of dharma is lost on earth, comes with a specific purpose Aware of past births, knows his future births Birth and activities are divine, beyond the gunas of Prakriti. No specific purpose, unless commissioned by the divine. Aim of life is to unite with the divine Ignorant of past births, does not know about his future births Birth and activities follow Nature/Prakriti and the gunas at prakriti cause the Jiva to act.

My favorite Avatara The most adorable aspects:

Pranayama and Sacrifice: The vital air in the heart is termed as Prana. The meaning of Yama is control. Therefore Pranayama is controlling the vital air. Controlling the vital air would in turn help in the control of the mind. It is a great tool in silencing the mind; which is a key step in God-realization. Any step that takes us closer to liberation can be termed as a sacrifice. E.g. Physical sacrifice: Puja, havan, Vital: Pranayama, Mental: Meditation, Study.