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Law of karma religion

CHENNAI: The truth that the powerful force of destiny is driven by the saying “just as one sows so one reaps” is central to the narrations in the Puranas and the Itihasas. When lives of individuals are subjected to upheavals, the only explanation possible is to attribute this baffling feature to the theory of karma. What each one experiences in the present life is the result of what one thought and acted in the past and one’s future is also determined by what one acts and thinks in the present life.

The episode of Dhruva narrated in the Bhagavata Purana illustrates the fact that God is accessible to those who seek Him with sincerity and only He can assuage the effects of one’s karma that causes ups and downs in one’s life, pointed out Sri B. Sundarkumar in a discourse. The five year old Dhruva was unable to comprehend his father’s bias that did not recognise the child’s longing to sit on the father’s lap. Anger, disappointment and sorrow welled up within this sensitive and self-respecting child on hearing the harsh words spoken by Suruchi, the stepmother. Neither could Dhruva’s mother Suniti explain this unique situation in any other terms except as the effect of fate or her destiny. She was unable to console the grief stricken boy. She advised Dhruva that seeking the Lord’s feet alone can alleviate the evil effects of one’s karma. What began as a reaction to the denial of a basic right of a child soon became a great penance that brought the Almighty Himself to his immediate presence.

When Dhruva set out with this determination, Sage Narada came to instruct him in the method of penance. He realised Dhruva’s steadfastness and imparted to him the Dvadasa Mantra (Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya) and described in detail the auspicious form of the Lord on which Dhruva could meditate. Dhruva’s austere penance brought the worlds to a standstill and the Lord appeared before him to end his penance. Through the Lord’s grace the boy gained enlightenment and eulogised Him in a moving hymn. Dhruva wished to remain devoted to the Lord. The Lord blessed him to enjoy the kingdom for long and accorded him a unique and lofty status in the constellation.

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