Karma is your ‘karm’, it is your actions, thoughts and intentions. The Hindu God of Justice Chitragupta (also known as Dharamraj) keeps complete records of every human being’s Karma during their time on Earth. Based on these records the destination of the soul is decided.
A. Karma and Actions
1. Nishkama Karma / Karma yoga / the Discipline of Action : karma that is performed for the welfare of others without attachment.
2. Yoga : it is for one’s own self
B. Karma and Thoughts
Thoughts and actions are divided into three categories: Sattwic, Rajasic and Tamasic. Sattwic thoughts are the ones that a person should aspire towards, Rajasic and Tamasic state of being should be avoided.
1. Sattwic: Thoughts that are righteous, pure and inclined towards knowledge are called ‘Sattwic’. This state of being is attained by following ‘karma yoga’ and living without attachment. Actions done here are for the greater good and within the confines of Dharma.
2. Rajasic : thoughts that are geared towards action, the future, greed and activity are called ‘Rajasic’. It is a very ‘I’ centered state of being where the individual is primary and should always be first, desires should always be met but desires are also insatiable.
3. Tamasic: thoughts that learn towards maleficence, evil, and ill-will are called ‘Tamasic’. In Ancient Hindu texts this state of being was usually seen in ‘rakshas’ and ‘daityas’. It is a state of being where you let life happen to you, it is a life of inaction/inactivity.
Types of Karma
1. Sanchita Karma: It is the sum of all our karma in previous lifetimes.
2. Praarabdha Karma: the portion of Sanchita Karma which will present itself in this lifetime. It is the agreed upon karmic debt of the lifetime you are experiencing right now. The faster you work on your karma in this lifetime the more past life debts will keep unraveling until all of Sanchita Karma is dissolved. It is very difficult to experience all past life karmas in one lifetime, therefore we keep having rebirths to burn away our Sanchita Karma.
3. Aagami Karma: It is the Karmic Map that is coming as a result of the merits and demerits of present actions of your current birth. Karma that is created by actions in the present life and will be added to your Sanchita Karma.
4. Kriyamana Karma: Daily and instant karma created in this lifetime and that we crate in our life because of our free actions. Kriyamana is the most intense form of karma, the one we see in our daily lives, where we have immediate consequences.
Karma and Hindu Astrology / Vedic Astrology
The first facet taught to any novice astrologer, for without karma the purpose of Vedic Astrology is naught.
Your Entire Birth Chart, all the planets in it, and all divisional charts are your Karma.
When we look at our birth charts / kundalis it doesn’t represent simply one’s past life, it shows the accumulation of karma over the past 50 lifetimes. 50 lifetimes is a lot of karma to ‘burn’, and I say ‘burn’ when the intention is not to have a rebirth and attain Moksha / Liberation.
I’ll give you a brief overview of the planets and their link to Karma:
Planets and Karma:
Sun: It represents your father, an authority figure. If Sun is well placed you will receive respect and be treated with dignity, if it is weak or malefic your father in this birth might face problems, your relationship with the father and authority figures might be problematic. You could even get into trouble with the government. If your Sun is good it is because you treated the karakas/significations of Sun with due respect in the past life. If it is bad then there may have been issues with your father /authority figure in the past life.
- Pitru Dosha - it is a strong indicator of past life misdeeds and the sufferings of your ancestors. This dosha occurs when Sun is malefic / is with a malefic / placed in a house that is malefic. Pitru Dosha can be removed only through three generations of prayers for the peace of your ancestors. It is not a curse of the ancestors, it is their bad karma troubling them in the afterlife and you were specially selected by them to pray for their relief.
Moon represents your mother, your mind, your emotional resilience, how lonely you will be (Kemdrum yoga) or how you can be in touch with rich and powerful people (Gaj Kesari yoga). Depending on your past life if you ill-treated your mother your dynamic with her in this life will not be good, if there were good karmas then the relationship with her will be excellent.
- Matru Dosha - like Pitru dosha remedies and prayers are done for the maternal lineage.
Jupiter - Guru/teacher/knowledge/wisdom/religion/spirituality/marriage.
Venus - Wife / women / art/ beauty / luxury / attraction
Mars - younger brother / husband / following orders / strategies / arguments / debate / war
Mercury - little children / memory / speed / wit / humor / speech / communication
Saturn - elderly / masses / underprivileged people / the poor, and cast out from society
Rahu and Ketu are special because they aren’t planets rather they are ‘shadow planets’. They don’t exist in our University but in ancient texts it is said that solar and lunar eclipse used to happen because of the influence of Rahu and Ketu. They play a key role in Karma and rebirth:
Rahu – Rahu is the reason that you are reborn. It is the pending desires of your past lifetime that you have come back to Earth to fulfill. You are a novice in the house Rahu occupies and are learning everything from scratch.
Ketu – Ketu is also called the ‘Liberator’. Ketu Dasha lasts for 7 years but in a short duration it causes massive discernment and spiritual inclination. It is somewhat similar to Mars in the sense that it is aggressive and doesn’t have time, but unlike Mars that wants to conquer Ketu has already conquered the field. Ketu wants to let go of everything as soon as possible, he leads to Moksha.
Vedic Houses and Karma:
We have 4 main combinations of houses. These combinations tell an astrologer in a glance where the heaviest influence of the chart will lie. These combinations are:
1. Dharma Trikona houses - 1, 5, 9.
· the first house is your present
· The fifth house is your future - your children
· the 9th house is your past, your father, your blessings from past life
This clearly shows a link between past, present and future, all three influence the present life. Your past life house is also called the house of ‘blessings’, blessings from the God’s and your ancestors. The 9th house is of prayers, the 5th house is of mantras.
2. Artha Trikona Houses – 2, 6, 10
· 2nd house: your income, bank balance, savings and investments
· 6th house: your career and ability to work hard
· 10th house: your name and fame in career
These houses represent the material comforts you will experience in life, and your capacity to work for them. ‘It is a sin to preach spirituality to a starving person’, without fulfilling your basic needs you won’t be able to rise to the next stage of karmic development.
Keep in mind that your Artha Trikona houses are able to provide your family the nourishment they need, and will be the foundation upon which you will be able to do charity work to improve your karma. Money shouldn’t always have an evil connotation.
3. Kama Trikona Houses – 3, 7, 11
· 3rd House: Courage, motivation, your desires. This is the house of the seed of your desires. It is also the house of free-will.
· 7th House: Your partnership/marriage, ability to have close and committed relationships, and sexual relationships. This is the blossoming of your desires.
· 11th House: The gain of your desires, or the fulfillment of your desires.
Kama Trikona houses are the houses of desire and its fulfillment. Our desires are influenced by past life unfulfilled wishes, and by societal expectations of what is ‘trending’. Our desires grow with time and so do the 3rd and 11th houses. These houses are tricky and tend to wrap people into its web, stopping you from attaining moksha. If you manage to break free from the Kama Trikona houses you step into the next and final stage of life which is Moksha Trikona houses.
4. Moksha Trikona Houses – 4, 8, 12
· 4th House: It is the house which shows the beginning of the journey towards liberation. It is the house that denotes your innermost emotions and deep intentions.
· 8th House: A deep dushthana house represents occult studies, research, mysteries and secrets. It also represents the seeds/beginnings of spiritual inclination.
· 12th House: Also known as the house of ‘exit’. On a higher level it represents isolation, long journeys, spiritual people that meditate in isolation such as monks in monastaries, yogis in mountains, or nuns in churches.
To know more you should look into nakshatras, divisional charts and their meanings, as well as the impact of different yogas.
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