Class 60, Tattva Bodha

॥ तत्त्व बोध ॥ … Tattva Bodha … By Acharya Tadany

Class 60, Sept 7, 2025

Q&A before class

Moksha and Self-Awareness

Sophie asked Acharya Tadany about some spiritual concepts including Mokṣa and the law of karma. Acharya Tadany explained that someone who achieves Mokṣa (Jivan Mukti) in this life is fully aware of it and compared this awareness to knowing one is awake after dreaming.

Just as a person waking from a dream knows they are no longer the dream character being chased or experiencing happiness or fear, a liberated person is aware of their true nature.

Acharya Tadany emphasized that dreams are nirvacanīyam — neither completely real nor completely unreal, having a dependent existence (mithyā) based on the ahaṅkāra’s day-to-day experiences.

Summary

The Importance of Understanding the Law of Karma

Acharya Tadany introduced the law of karma as a crucial teaching that provides emotional strength and cognitive clarity to face future situations, whether pleasant or traumatic. He explained that understanding and assimilating the law of karma gives tremendous power to the mind, enabling one to withstand any unknown or unpredictable future.

Even without self-knowledge, the very knowledge of the law of karma is substantially useful and somewhat liberating in day-to-day life. Most anxieties, distress, and fears relate to future situations, and while many future events may be pleasant surprises, life also brings unpleasant, shocking, or traumatic experiences that one must be prepared to face.

First Law of Karma: Generation of Puṇyam and Pāpam

Acharya Tadany explained that all noble, benevolent actions done with goodwill and without ulterior motives produce an invisible positive result called puṇyam. These are selfless actions — reaching out to others without expecting money, fame, recognition, rewards, or even acknowledgment.

The invisible noble motive behind the action produces an invisible outcome called adṛṣṭa phalam (unseen result).

Conversely, evil, wicked actions done with the motive of hurting, harming, belittling, or destroying others produce an invisible negative result called pāpam. Actions can be physical, verbal, or mental (mānasam, vācikam, kāyikam karmāṇi), and all three types generate karmic results based on their nature and intention.

Divine and Demoniac Qualities

The Śāstra provides extensive lists of dos and don’ts called vidhis and niṣedhās. Acharya Tadany referenced the 16th chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, which describes daivī sampat (divine qualities) and āsurī sampat (demoniac qualities).

Divine qualities include fearlessness, compassion, courage, citta śuddhi (purity of mind), and wisdom, which lead to liberation (Mokṣa).

Demoniac qualities include hypocrisy, arrogance, conceit, and anger, which lead to bondage.

Importantly, these qualities are not fixed destinies but tendencies that can be cultivated or overcome through conscious effort and spiritual practices (sādhanāni).

The Principle of Parōpakāra and Parāpīḍana

Acharya Tadany cited a beautiful śloka found in millions of texts:

“Ślōkārtena pravakṣyāmi yad uktaṃ grantha kōṭibhiḥ,

 parōpakāraḥ puṇyāya pāpāya para-pīḍanam”

Helping others leads to puṇyam (spiritual credit), while harming others leads to pāpam (spiritual debt).

This simple verse encapsulates what generates puṇyam or pāpam. Actions done individually or collectively to help others without strings attached generate puṇyam, while actions that give suffering, torture, or torment to others — mentally, verbally, or physically — generate pāpam. The principle of ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ states that non-violence (understood as actively helping others) produces dharma, while violence produces adharma.

Vedic Vision of Universal Well-Being

Acharya Tadany shared traditional Vedic prayers that embody the vision of universal compassion. The prayer

“sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ

Sarve santu nirāmayāḥ,

sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu,

mā kaścid duḥkha bhāg bhavet”

means:

May all beings be happy,

may all beings be free from disease,

may all beings see auspicious things in their lives,

may no one suffer.

Even the simple thought of wishing well for all beings generates puṇyam.

Another prayer,

“Durjanaḥ sajjano bhūyāt,

sajjanaḥ śāntim āpnuyāt,

śānto mucyeta bandhadhyāt,

mukta cānyān vimocayet,”

presents stages of spiritual evolution:

May the wicked become virtuous,

may the virtuous attain peace,

may the peaceful become liberated from bondage,

and may the liberated free others.

These prayers emphasize sarve (all) without religious, racial, caste, or cultural restrictions.

Second Law of Karma: Manifestation as Circumstances

The second law states that accumulated puṇyam will later be converted into favorable circumstances and situations, while accumulated pāpam will be converted into unfavorable circumstances and situations.

Every favorable or unfavorable situation not directly worked for is the result of what we call destiny or fate, which the Śāstra reveals to be our own accumulated puṇyam and pāpam.

These circumstances can manifest in physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, familial, environmental, economic, or political conditions.

Puṇyam creates sukham (happiness, wonderful moments), while pāpam creates duḥkham (unhappiness, sorrowful moments).

Third Law of Karma: Indirect Manifestation Through Conditions

Acharya Tadany clarified that puṇyam does not directly give pleasure, nor does pāpam directly give suffering. Instead, they work through conditions — creating the right or wrong relationships, situations, or circumstances that then produce happiness or suffering.

For example, puṇyam works through the right relationship, and that relationship gives happiness. Pāpam works through a painful, non-harmonious relationship, which gives suffering, distress, fear, or anxiety.

Furthermore, different puṇyams and pāpams fructify at different times, each having its own gestation or incubation period, like plants bearing fruit at different times. A strawberry may produce fruit in weeks, while a coconut tree takes years. Similarly, one may plant karmic seeds but not witness the fruits in the same lifetime.

Fourth Law of Karma: Acquisition Only in Human Birth

The fourth law states that puṇyam and pāpam can only be acquired in a human birth. Only human beings possess the discretion, discrimination, or discernment to know what is right and wrong, good and bad, dharma and adharma.

Humans deliberately do right or wrong actions and can deliberately avoid wrong actions. This free will and discernment exist only for human beings. Animal births do not involve acquisition of puṇyam and pāpam; animals are governed by instinct and do not deliberately harm others except for self-protection or self-preservation. There are no premeditated actions in the animal kingdom, and thus animals maintain natural balance and harmony unless humans intervene.

Animals are in their birth purely for exhaustion of karma acquired in previous human births.

Human vs. Animal Birth and the Cycle

Acharya Tadany explained that an animal birth serves only for the exhaustion of puṇyam or pāpam acquired in previous human existences. If someone lives an animalistic, strongly adharmic lifestyle, sadistically enjoying giving pain to others, the law of karma states that person may be born as an animal. Conversely, animals can later become human.

This shows that the Veda does not accept Darwin’s theory of evolution, which proposes continuous upward progress.

According to the law of karma in the Vedas, spiritual evolution is not uniform but a zigzagging roller coaster — humans can become divine beings or animals based on previously acquired puṇyam and pāpam.

Fifth Law of Karma: Sañcita, Prārabdha, and Āgāmi

The fifth law describes the three types of karma.

Sañcita karma is all the puṇyam and pāpam acquired in all past human births — a vast, unknown karmic bank account accumulated over countless lifetimes.

Prārabdha karma (prakarṣeṇa ārabhdam — properly begun) is the portion of sañcita karma that is ready to fructify in the current birth, determining one’s birth circumstances and life conditions.

Not all accumulated karma manifests simultaneously; only the portion that has matured affects the current life, much like fixed deposits maturing at different times.

Āgāmi karma (āgamiṣyati iti āgāmi — that which will come) refers to new karma generated in the current birth through fresh actions and activities. Some āgāmi karma may fructify in this life, while the rest joins the sañcita karma for future births.

Prārabdha Karma and Natal Charts

Acharya Tadany explained that one’s natal chart, according to Jyotiṣa (Vedic astrology), reveals prārabdha karma — not that planets affect life, but that planetary positions at birth represent karmic tendencies and forces.

Just as a doctor can diagnose disease in early stages and begin treatment, a genuine astrologer can identify unfavorable prārabdha and suggest prayers or prāyaścitta (remedial actions) to remove or neutralize those forces.

Prārabdha karma has three types:

durbala prārabdha (weak, curable),

madhyama prārabdha (medium, manageable but not fully curable),

and prabala prārabdha (strong, incurable).

However, Acharya Tadany cautioned that genuine astrologers are rare, and one must be careful of charlatans.

Counteracting Karma Through Āgāmi

As human beings, we have the advantage of generating fresh āgāmi karma in the current life. We can plan our actions and activities to generate positive results or neutralize fructifying negative karma.

Acharya Tadany gave the analogy of a stone thrown upward that will fall and hit one’s head — instead of lamenting, one can throw another stone to counteract it, similar to sending rockets to destroy a meteor headed toward Earth.

In the Śāstra, such counteractions are called parihāra karmāṇi or prāyaścitta karmāṇi — special āgāmi karmas designed to neutralize negative prārabdha.

However, to do the right āgāmi karma, one must know the prārabdha, which is normally invisible (adṛṣṭam), hence the importance of Jyotiṣa.

The Cycle of Birth and Death

At the time of death, prārabdha karma gets exhausted, causing the body to die. Part of āgāmi karma may be exhausted in the current life, while the remainder joins sañcita karma. From that pool of sañcita karma, another set of prārabdha is determined at the moment of death, establishing the next birth. If it is an animal birth, it serves only for exhaustion; if it is a human birth, it allows both exhaustion and creation of new karma. This cycle continues, nourished by one’s mental, verbal, and physical actions (puṇya-pāpa karmāṇi).

Q&A after class

Questions on Dharmic and Adharmic Actions

Preksha asked how an action becomes dharmic or adharmic, particularly concerning intention. She noted that animals lack intention and thus do not accumulate karma, and wondered whether children or adults acting without clear understanding of right and wrong (due to cultural differences or lack of awareness) still generate karma.

Acharya Tadany explained that every human being is born with predispositions called vāsanās (tendencies from past births), which manifest early in childhood. Even children show distinct personalities — one calm and spiritually oriented, another aggressive or even showing demoniac tendencies.

While the force of karma may be lesser in children due to less-developed discernment, human values are common sense, not merely common practice.

Regardless of culture, all humans inherently know they do not like being disrespected, insulted, or robbed, which demonstrates universal knowledge of right and wrong. Even a child who is beaten by parents cries because they inherently know it is wrong, though they lack the physical or intellectual capacity to protest verbally.

Intention, Culture, and Universal Dharma

Acharya Tadany emphasized that the law of karma is impersonal and applies regardless of gender, culture, religion, race, or nationality. Certain cultures may locally accept abusive practices, but if an action is wrong, it remains wrong from the perspective of the law of karma.

Ignorance is never a justification — just as tax authorities do not accept “I didn’t know” as an excuse. The Śāstra‘s guidelines are based on common sense discernment.

Actions may be identical, but intention determines their karmic result. For example, a thief stabs someone with the intention to harm and rob, generating pāpam, while a surgeon cuts a person open with the intention to heal, generating puṇyam. Both involve cutting, but the attitude behind the action is what matters. Surgeons are not accumulating pāpam because their intention is benevolent, not malevolent.

Mental Actions and Desires as Karma

Preksha asked whether desires are considered part of karma.

Acharya Tadany confirmed that mental actions (mānasa karma) generate puṇyam or pāpam just as physical and verbal actions do. Desires are fundamentally wishes to acquire something or get rid of something, and they can change over time (wanting something one year and not wanting it the next).

These mental actions, rooted in likes and dislikes, also generate karmic results. Even if one does not know whether an action is right or wrong, ignorance is not a justification for avoiding karmic consequences.

Handling Harm: Using Legal Systems, Not Revenge

Preksha asked about a situation where someone has done wrong towards she and her family, and although they manage to stop it, she felt conflicted about not punishing the person yet also not wanting to bear the pain of doing so.

Acharya Tadany advised using the legal, judicial, and criminal systems that exist to protect citizens from physical, monetary, and moral injury.

Laws are the responsibility of kṣatriyas (the protective class) — judges, lawyers, and the judicial system. One can press charges and seek legal recourse, but the Śāstra does not recommend taking matters into one’s own hands.

Personal revenge, as an extreme example, such as killing someone who killed your father, makes you perform the same harmful action, generating pāpam. While the legal system may be imperfect and outcomes uncertain, using it is the best course of action.

One must also avoid holding grudges, as anger and resentment harm oneself while the abuser moves on to find the next victim.

Acharya Tadany noted that Vedānta substantially reduces violence from one’s life by helping one realize their true nature as whole and complete.

Animal Births: Exhaustion, Not Punishment

Sophie asked whether being born as an animal is a shortcut, punishment, or simply a process. Acharya Tadany clarified that it is a process for exhaustion of karma, not punishment. Every animal or plant has its own characteristics, challenges, and possibilities. An elephant born in Africa where hunting occurs faces different challenges than one born in South India where it is protected.

A mosquito lives a very short time, while a Greenland shark can live 400 years — each manifestation allows the exhaustion of karma over the appropriate duration. Animal births involve only exhaustion, with no acquisition of new karma, and no free will.

Similarly, births in divine realms (as angels or celestial beings) are also only for exhaustion. Those with more puṇyam in their account may be born as divine beings, while those with less may be born as animals or humans with a mix of puṇyam and pāpam.

Even great beings like Indra and other mahātmās mentioned in the Śāstra are roles obtained by accumulating vast puṇyam over millions of lives or through rituals, but eventually their tenure expires and someone else takes over the role.

Only Human Birth Leads to Mokṣa

Acharya Tadany emphasized that only in human existence can one attain Mokṣa. Divine beings in heavenly realms are there only for exhaustion of puṇyam and must eventually return. Animals similarly return after exhausting their karma. Since acquisition of karma and liberation both require free will and discernment, only human birth provides the opportunity for spiritual liberation. Acharya Tadany mentioned there is one exception to this rule, but it will be discussed in much later classes.

Acharya Tadany