Dear Sir,
Thanks for a very crystal illustrations which even enlighten a lay if it is given in Tamil.
I do have my own doubt whether curse by forefathers persists. It was the strong opinion of my father who once said that the progress and prosperity in the family members are being prevented or rather slowed. Is it so. I believe in Prarabdha Karma which is a perpetual phenomenon but I don't have Belief over pariharas suggested by Astrologers to overcome the Act of God.Can anyone overcome the Act of God? One should definitely face the stress and strains of the past deeds in the previous life in the form of prarabdha karma and there is no alternate. Am I correct?
Sri dhikshita
Thanks!
The Karma model is itself rooted in a belief system with few references in Upanishads. The model, which is more elaborate than what I wrote is derived from reasoning from limited references in our scriptures by many teachers.
We can live with a belief if it is reasonable and helpful while not contradicting what we understand from common observation and common sense. Karma model fits this test of reasonableness and helpfulness. The interpretation of curse and its impact that Sri Sangom stated in an earlier post does not meet the test of reasonableness and helpfulness.
Curse is an action by someone using words / mouth. Like all actions there will be a consequence within this Karma model. But power accorded to 'curses' is harmful imagination and best rejected. There is no basis for this in our scriptures (noting that Puranas are not really scriptures in this definition)
Prarabdha Karma is not determined by anything any of us know. It is really an acknowledgement that once any life begins the living being is fulfilling the effects of an assigned past Karma.
When you throw a ball in the air it comes down after some time. It is it thrown faster than 7 miles per second it will not return. The action of the ball is determined by how it is thrown by us. The result is determined by the natural laws.
The laws that pervade the universe are called 'Isvara's laws' and since laws determine the outcome , Isvara is said to be the 'Karma Phala Dhata' - meaning giver of the fruits of Karma.
Prarabdha Karma itself is determined by laws of Karma and once it has begun cannot be changed. As an analogy if a country shoots a missile on another often there are no mechanism built in to recall it. However one can try shoot down that missile.
The beliefs in Pariharams is in that spirit.
Can new Karma (Agami) be done that can help offset the results of an unfolding Prarabdha Karma? No one can prove or disprove if doing Pariharams can offset anything.
For matters of practical application I would say (and it is an opinion) that we ask if a belief in a given Pariharam is reasonable and helpful.
Astrologers are constantly coming up with new Dodhams and Pariharams to drum up new business.
Overall I would suggest (and it is an opinion) that we reject all these Pariharam and curses since they have no real basis in our knowledge part of our scripture.
You can take up daily meditation along the lines of Chapter 11 of B.Gita as an alternative. Nothing 'bad' will happen and even if some events do happen you will have the courage to meet them head on.
Our scriptures teach us about fearlessness which represent exactly opposite to what curses and pariharams promote.
Let me borrow a few quotes from Sri Vivekananda
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WWW.PGCKAVALI.IN - SWAMI VIVEKANANDA INSPIRATIONAL QUOTATIONS
1.BE NOT AFRIED OF ANYTHING .YOU WILL DO MARVELLOUS WORK .THE MOVEMENT YOU ARE FEAR, YOU ARE NOBODY.IT IS FEAR THAT IS THE GREAT CAUSE OF MISERYIN THE WORLD.IF IS FEARLESSNESS THAT BRINGS HEAVEN EVEN IN A MOVEMENT .THEREFORE, “ARISE, AWAKE, AND STOPE NOT TILL THE GOAL IS REACHED”
2.ALL THE POWER IS WITHIN YOU; YOU CAN DO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. BELIEVE IN THAT, DON’T BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE WEAK.STAND UP AND EXPRESS THE DIVINITY WITHIN YOU...
3.TO SUCCEED,YOU MUST HAVE TREMENDOUS PRESERANCE,TREMENDOUS WILL.’I WILL DRINK THE OCEAN’ , SAY THE PRESEVERING SOUL,’AT MY WILL MOUNTAINS WILL CRUMBLE UP’, HAVE THAT SORT OF ENERGY,THAT SORT OF WILL,WORK HARD AND YOU WILL REACH THE GOAL”
4.CONCENTRATION IS THE ESSENCE OF ALL KNOWLEDGE; NOTHING CAN BE DONE WITHOUT IT.NINETY PERCENT OF THOUGHT FORCE IS WASTED BY THEORDINARY HUMAN BEING, AND THEREFORE HE IS CONSTANTLY COMMITTING BLUDNERS; THE TRAINED MAN OR MIND NEVER MAKES A MISTAKEE
5.TEACH YOURSELVES, TEACH EVERYONE, HIS REAL NATURE, CALL UPON THE SLEEPING SOUL AND SEE HOW IT AWAKES.
POWER WILL COME, GLORY WIL COME, GOODNESS WILL COME,
PURITY WILL COME, AND EVERYTHING THAT IS EXCELLENT WILL COME,
WHEN THIS SLEEPING SOUL IS ROUSED TO SELF-CONSCIOUS ACTIVITY.
6.IF YOU REALLY WANT TO JUDGE OF THE CHARACTER OF A MAN, LOOK NOT HIS GREAT PERFORMANCES, EVERY FOOL MAY BECOME A HERO AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER. WATCH A MAN DO HIS MOST COMMON ACTIONS; THOSE ARE INDEED THE THINGS WHICH WIIL TELL YOU THE REAL CHARACTER OF GREAT MAN.
7.NO ONE CAN SUFFER FOR ALL TIME.NO ONE WILL SPEND ALL HIS DAYS ON THIS EARTH IN SUFFERING.EVERY ACTION BRINGS ITS OWN RESULT, AND ONE GETS ONE’S OPPORTUNITIES ACCORDINGLY.
8.ALL THE POWERS IN THE UNIVERSE ARE ALREADY OURS.IT IS WE WHO HAVE PUT OUR HANDS BEFORE OUR EYES AND CRY THAT IT IS DARK.KNOW THAT IS NO DARKNESS AROUND US.TAKE THE HANDS AWAY AND THERE IS THE LIGHT WHICH WAS FROM THE BEGINNING. ‘WE WHO ARE FOOLS CRY THAT WE ARE WEAK, WE ARE LIONS DON’T THINK UR WEAK’
9.Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.”
10.“We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.”
11.“The goal of mankind is knowledge ... Now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.”
12.This is a great fact: strength is life; weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery, weakness is death
13.Never mind failures; they are quite natural, they are the beauty of life-these failures. What would life be without them? It would not be worth having if it were not for struggles. Where would be the poetry of life? Never mind the struggles, the mistakes. I never heard a cow tell a lie, but it is only a cow-never a man. So never mind these failures, these little backslidings; hold the ideal a thousand times; and if you fail a thousand times, make the attempt once more...
14.Stand up and fight! Not one step back, that is the idea. Fight it out, whatever comes. Let the stars move from the spheres! Let the whole world stand against us! Death means only a change of garment. What of it? Thus fight! You gain nothing by becoming cowards. Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any misfortune. You have cried to all the gods in the world. Has misery ceased? The gods come to help you when you have succeeded. So what is the use? Die game. You are infinite, deathless, birth less. Because you are infinite spirit, it does not befit you to be a slave. Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight!
15.Never say, ‘no’; never say, ‘I cannot’, for you are infinite. Even time and space are as nothing compared with your nature. You can do anything and everything. You are almighty.
16.Say, ‘This misery that I am suffering is of my own doing, and that very thing proves that it will have to be undone by me alone.’ That which I created, I can demolish; that which is created by someone else, I shall never be able to destroy. Therefore, stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creators of your own destiny. All the strength and succour you want is within ourselves.
17.Every thought that we think, every deed that we do, after a certain time becomes fine, goes into the seed form, so to speak, and lives in the fine body in a potential form, and after a time, it emerges again and bears its results. These results condition the life of man. Thus he moulds his own life. Man is not bound by any other laws excepting those which he makes for himself.
18.Do not recognize wickedness in others. Wickedness is ignorance, weakness. What is the good of telling people they are weak? Criticism and destruction are of no avail. We must give them a little higher; tell them of their own glorious nature, their birthright.
19.It is fear alone that is death. You have to go beyond all fear. So from this day, be fearless. Off at once, to lay down your life for your own liberation and for the good of others. What good is it carrying a load of bones and flesh!
20.Even the least work done for others awakens the power within. Even thinking the least amount good for others gradually instills into the heart, the strength of a lion. Get up, and put your shoulders to the wheel. How long is this life for? As you have come into the world, leave some mark behind. Otherwise, where is the difference between you and the trees and stones..
21.Be brave! Be strong! Be fearless! Once you have taken up the spiritual life, fight as long as there is any life in you. Even though you know you are going to be killed, fight till you “are killed.” Don’t die of fright. Die fighting. Don’t go down till you are knocked down.
22.The weak, the fearful, the ignorant will never reach the Atman. You cannot undo what you have done; the effect must come. Face it, but be careful never to do the same thing again. Give up the burden of all deeds to God. Give all, both good and bad. God helps those who do not help themse
23.The moment you fear, you are nobody. It is fear that is the great cause of misery in the world. It is fear that is the greatest of all superstitions. It is the fear that is the cause of our woes, and it is fearlessness that brings heaven in a moment...
OTHER
