KARMA : Le karma est le reflet de nos actions antérieures qui se manifeste dans notre vie actuelle. Il faut constamment chercher à améliorer son karma, littéralement ses actions, par de bonnes actions et en respectant le dharma*. Le but est de sortir définitivement du cycle des morts et des naissances (saṃsāra) et d'atteindre la libération finale appelée moksha.
* Dharma: De façon générale, désigne l'ensemble des normes et lois, sociales, politiques, familiales, personnelles, naturelles ou cosmiques.
The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Markandeya-Samasya Parva: Section CCVII (extracts) :
"Markandeya continued, 'The pious fowler, O Yudhishthira, then said to that Brahmana, 'Undoubtedly
my deeds are very cruel, but, O Brahmana, Destiny is all-powerful and it is difficult to evade the consequence of our past actions. And this is the karmic evil arising out of sin committed in a former life.
But, O Brahmana, I am always assiduous in eradicating the evil. The Deity takes away life, the executioner acts only as a secondary agent. And we, O good Brahmana, are only such agents in regard to our karma. Those animals that are slain by me and whose meat I sell, also acquire karma, because (with their meat), gods and guests and servants are regaled with dainty food and the manes are propitiated...
... The Karma of a former existence never forsakes any creature. And in determining the various consequences of one's Karma, this rule was not lost of sight by the Creator. A person having his being under the influence of evil Karma, must always consider how he can atone for his Karma, and extricate himself from an evil doom, and the evil Karma may be expiated in various ways. Accordingly, O good Brahmana, I am charitable, truthful, assiduous in attending on my superior, full of respect towards regenerate Brahmanas, devoted to and free from pride and (idle) excessive talk. Agriculture is considered to be a praiseworthy occupation, but it is well-known that even there, great harm is done to animal life; and in the operation of digging the earth with the plough, numberless creatures lurking in the ground as also various other forms of animal life are destroyed.
The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Markandeya-Samasya Parva Section CCVIII (extracts) :
And, the best of the cherishers of religion, thou hast observed that those who have it in their power to enjoy
(the good things of this earth), are prevented from doing so from the fact of their suffering from chronic
bowel-complaints, and that many others that are strong and powerful, suffer from misery, and are enabled with great difficulty to obtain a livelihood; and that every man is thus helpless, overcome by misery and illusion, and again and again tossed and overpowered by the powerful current of his own actions (karma). If there were absolute freedom of action, no creature would die, none would be subject to decay, or await his evil doom, and everybody would attain the object of his desire...
... 'The spirit dies not, there being simply a change of tenement. They are mistaken, who foolishly say that all creatures die. The soul betakes itself to another frame, and its change of habitation is called its death. In the world of men, no man reaps the consequences of another man's karma. Whatever one does, he is sure to reap the consequences thereof; for the consequences of the karma that is once done, can never be obviated.
The virtuous become endowed with great virtues, and sinful men become the perpetrators of wicked deeds. Men's actions follow them; and influenced by these, they are born again.'...
... This mystery seems to belong to the subject of procreation, but I shall briefly describe to you, O good
Brahmana, how the spirit is born again with its accumulated load of karma, the righteous in a virtuous, and the wicked in a sinful nativity. By the performance of virtuous actions it attains to the state of the gods, and by a combination of good and evil, it acquires the human state; by indulgence in sensuality and similar demoralising practices it is born in the lower species of animals, and by sinful acts, it goes to the infernal regions. Afflicted with the miseries of birth and dotage, man is fated to rot here below from the evil consequences of his own actions. Passing through thousands of births as also the infernal regions, our spirits wander about, secured by the fetters of their own karma. Animate beings become miserable in the next world on account of these actions done by themselves and from the reaction of those miseries, they assume lower births and then they accumulate a new series of actions, and they consequently suffer misery over again, like sickly men partaking of unwholesome food; and although they are thus afflicted, they consider themselves to be happy and at ease and consequently their fetters are not loosened and new karma arises; and suffering from diverse miseries they turn about in this world like a wheel. If casting off their fetters they purify themselves by their actions and practise austerities and religious meditations, then, O best of Brahmanas, they attain the Elysian regions by these numerous acts and by casting off their fetters and by the purification of karma, men attain those blissful regions where misery is unknown to those who go there.
The Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Anusasanika Parva: Section I (extract) :
"Kala said, 'Neither Mrityu, nor this serpent, nor I, O fowler, am guilty of the death of any creature. We are merely the immediate exciting causes of the event. O Arjunaka, the Karma of this child formed the exciting cause of our action in this matter. There was no other cause by which this child came by its death. It was killed as a result of its own Karma. It has met with death as the result of its Karma in the past. Its Karma has been the cause of its destruction. We all are subject to the influence of our respective Karma. Karma is an aid to salvation even as sons are, and Karma also is an indicator of virtue and vice in man. We urge one another even as acts urge one another. As men make from a lump of clay whatever they wish to make, even so do men attain to various results determined by Karma. As light and shadow are related to each other, so are men related to Karma through their own actions. Therefore, neither art thou, nor am I, nor Mrityu, nor the serpent, nor this old Brahmana lady, is the cause of this child's death. He himself is the cause here.
The Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Anusasanika Parva: Section VII (extract) :
As the young calf is able to recognise its dam from among a thousand cows, so does the previous acts of a man pursue him (in all his different transformations). As the flowers and fruits of a tree, unurged by visible influences, never miss their proper season, so does Karma done in a previous existence bring about its fruits in proper time.
The Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Anusasanika Parva: Section XIII :
"Yudhishthira said, 'What should a man do in order to pass pleasantly through this and the other world.
How, indeed, should one conduct oneself? What practices should one adopt with this end in view?'
"Bhishma said, 'One should avoid the three acts that are done with the body, the four that are done with
speech, the three that are done with the mind, (also called) the ten paths of action. The three acts that are done with the body and should be wholly avoided are the destruction of the lives of other creatures, theft or
appropriation of what belongs to other persons, and the enjoyment of other people's wives. The four acts that are done with speech, O king, and that should never be indulged in or even thought of, are evil conversation, harsh words, publishing other people's faults, and falsehood. Coveting the possessions of others, doing injury to others, and disbelief in the ordinances of the Vedas, are the three acts done with the mind which should always be avoided. Hence, one should never do any evil act in word, body, or mind. By doing good and evil acts, one is sure to enjoy or endure the just consequences thereof. Nothing can be more certain than this.'"
The Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Anusasanika Parva: Section LVIII :
Footnote from Kisari Mohan Ganguli : Heaven and Hell are places of only enjoyment and endurance. There can be no acts there leading to merit or demerit. This world is the only place which is called the field of acts.
