Root cause of Karma

Ignorance of one’s true nature is the cause of suffering in samsara. Once inside the cycle of birth, the individual is bound by the impressions of his past karma. So he engages in fresh karma in every birth hoping to gain happiness, not knowing that every act begets further bondage. That is why Krishna focuses on karma even while placing Jnana as the ideal to be attained, pointed out Nochur Sri Venkataraman in a discourse. The Lord reiterates that since action is

incumbent on human beings and all action binds one into further karma, one has to understand the root cause of karma and handle it with care.

Through its endless journey in the cycle of birth, every jivatma is born with the legacy of karma vasana comprising one’s personality, tendencies, faculties, attitude, gunas, etc. that it has accumulated since time immemorial. Samsara is a trapped enclosure and even as one steps inside, the step disappears. It is like getting into the Padma Vyuha without the skill to negotiate the way out. The door closes forever with no chance of getting out. It is not even a door; it is an impregnable wall. It is imperative that every jivatma understands the implications of being thus caught.

The odds seem to be against any attempt to be free from this bondage.

Krishna’s advice to escape this karma vasana is to engage in one’s Swadharma. Perceiving the dichotomy between the body and the self alone can help us to transcend the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘Mine.’

Our whole body has to be sensitive to this truth. Ignorance or Avidya can be overcome by service and devotion to the Lord.