Karmic Account

 

(Inspired by an article of Sri Om Swami)

Our scriptures state that there is a Karmic account for each one of us as individuals.  The account earns a demerit or debit entry for each of our bad karma, and a merit or a credit entry for our good karma. But unlike in double entry bookkeeping the debits are not offset by the credits and whatever debits are accumulated by a person, that all the person has to pay back.  If A causes B grief, in return for the grief B has given to him, both remain accountable and both earn debit entries and both have to pay for the grief they have caused to each other and nothing gets cancelled out.  All the accumulated debits one alone has to pay back and all the credits rightfully earned cannot also be taken away from one. The unseen Karmic account is immaculately maintained, only its operation is a mystery as Lord Krishna points out in Bhagavad Gita (4-17); “Gahana karmano gathih (Mysterious are the ways of Karma)”.

Karma is of three types, physical, verbal and mental and all of them leave their psychic imprint on one’s mind which accumulated over many lives, conditions one’s mind in the present birth.  Every action leaves behind an imprint.  Physical actions may produce a tangible residue, whereas mental and verbal Karma creates psychic imprints.  The trail of a Karma may wane but does not get destroyed completely.  One’s memory is an accumulation, a storage tank, of one’s psychic imprints from the Karmic trail. 

Good Karma rewards one with peace and contentment though it may or may not give material success or riches.  In fact, one can only do good Karma when one has peace within.  If one is happy inside one will not hurt anyone with his words and gestures; rather he will melt their hearts doing even more good deeds.  It will be the reverse when one is bitter or angry inside.  He may cause more grief to the other person resulting in greater anguish for himself.  Happiness and good Karma complement and fuel each other.

So if peace is important to one, one should know that peace is funded by one’s good Karmic account.  The greater the credit balance in one’s Karmic account, greater the peace one enjoys.  It is in a state of peace alone that one experiences and enjoys any type of joy.  After all, Happiness is the goal of all in all of their actions. The state of peace can be attained, if one sheds some of one’s expectations and desires, if one is a little more forgiving and a bit more honest with oneself and others.  With peace and contentment and acting mindfully one can boost one’s credit entries in the Karmic account with good Karma.  Similarly, one can avoid debit entries by keeping in mind the words of Swami Sivananda - “Every wrong action brings its own punishment in accordance with the law of retribution.  If you rob another, you rob yourself first.  If you hurt another, you hurt yourself first. – you have to pay the price someday.”

But whatever be the entries, debit or credit, the account remains in operation and also the cycle of birth and death continues. If one takes to Karma Yoga way of life, performing all one’s actions without the sense of doership and with Iswararpana Buddhi i.e. dedicating all the actions to Iswara, and accepting the results, good or otherwise, with Prasada Buddhi, i.e. as gift of Iswara, then one can ensure that one’s Karmic account is static, unaffected by one’s actions.  As one steps up one’s spiritual pursuit to Jnana Yoga and attains Self-knowledge, the Karmic account gets liquidated at death, liberating that person totally from the cycle of birth and death. 

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