Vasanas, Desires, Thoughts, Actions And Effects Form A Vicious cycle In Human life Says Adi Shankra
his impulsive unconscious behavior is what has been referred to in Gita and other upanishads as vasanas or underlying tendencies to act in a certain way. These vasanas are the seeds of our desires, the desires manifest as thoughts, which then lead us to act, in order to derive the reward (or fruit) of our action, which once again reinforces the vasanas.
The literal meaning of the word Karma in Sanskrit is “work,” “action,” or “deed”. This is in the sense of ‘an action carried out externally in the world’, as opposed to the Sanskrit word Kriya, implying ‘an action carried out intrinsically’. Generally, the law of karma says that every action has fruits, i.e. has implications manifesting in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth. An action done with good intention creates good karma, while one that is done with bad intention creates bad karma. The fruit can manifest in this lifetime or in the next incarnations. The intention, approach, and desire of the doer affect the karma, but also, to a certain extent, the outcome of the action. A common example is envisioning two men standing with a knife over a man lying on the ground. One of the men standing is a surgeon, and the other is a murderer – both are performing the same action – stabbing the man lying in front of them, but their intentions are quite different. In that sense, the concept of karma differs from the principle of pure causality found in the natural sciences. However the result of the operation, also counts since it’s evident that if the surgeon was to be successful, his feelings will be very different than if the patient dies, and this affects his karma as well.
The connection between karma and causality is a central motif in various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. According to these traditions, both the individual’s actions as well as his intentions affect the course of his life. Any actions carried out with expectation (an outcome in mind) result in an accumulation of karma, as opposed to actions carried out without such expectation, which leave karma intact. Good karma has a positive effect on the life of the doer, and leads to happiness, while bad karma negatively influences the doer and leads to unhappiness. The effect of karma is not limited to the individual’s current life and may also influence his next incarnations.
The concept of karma is therefore used as the ethical basis in various schools of Eastern philosophy. However, it’s not a punishment and reward system. There is no one to grant rewards or punishments. It’s just the way things are – natural law. Although it’s not always clear to us, the law of karma states that it’s simply a fact that any action done with an expectation for an outcome creates karma, actions carried out with good intention will produce good karma, while those done with bad intention will produce bad karma.
his impulsive unconscious behavior is what has been referred to in Gita and other upanishads as vasanas or underlying tendencies to act in a certain way. These vasanas are the seeds of our desires, the desires manifest as thoughts, which then lead us to act, in order to derive the reward (or fruit) of our action, which once again reinforces the vasanas.
The literal meaning of the word Karma in Sanskrit is “work,” “action,” or “deed”. This is in the sense of ‘an action carried out externally in the world’, as opposed to the Sanskrit word Kriya, implying ‘an action carried out intrinsically’. Generally, the law of karma says that every action has fruits, i.e. has implications manifesting in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth. An action done with good intention creates good karma, while one that is done with bad intention creates bad karma. The fruit can manifest in this lifetime or in the next incarnations. The intention, approach, and desire of the doer affect the karma, but also, to a certain extent, the outcome of the action. A common example is envisioning two men standing with a knife over a man lying on the ground. One of the men standing is a surgeon, and the other is a murderer – both are performing the same action – stabbing the man lying in front of them, but their intentions are quite different. In that sense, the concept of karma differs from the principle of pure causality found in the natural sciences. However the result of the operation, also counts since it’s evident that if the surgeon was to be successful, his feelings will be very different than if the patient dies, and this affects his karma as well.
The connection between karma and causality is a central motif in various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. According to these traditions, both the individual’s actions as well as his intentions affect the course of his life. Any actions carried out with expectation (an outcome in mind) result in an accumulation of karma, as opposed to actions carried out without such expectation, which leave karma intact. Good karma has a positive effect on the life of the doer, and leads to happiness, while bad karma negatively influences the doer and leads to unhappiness. The effect of karma is not limited to the individual’s current life and may also influence his next incarnations.
The concept of karma is therefore used as the ethical basis in various schools of Eastern philosophy. However, it’s not a punishment and reward system. There is no one to grant rewards or punishments. It’s just the way things are – natural law. Although it’s not always clear to us, the law of karma states that it’s simply a fact that any action done with an expectation for an outcome creates karma, actions carried out with good intention will produce good karma, while those done with bad intention will produce bad karma.
![[Skandha 01Summary] – Quintessence of Bhagavata by PadmaShri Shri Bannanje Govindacharya](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zVrdYDm39fI/hqdefault.jpg "[Skandha 01Summary] – Quintessence of Bhagavata by PadmaShri Shri Bannanje Govindacharya")
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