Karma..

i read mahabharata (the tamil version by rajaji) recently and am reading ramayan (it's a tamil version, but with the original kamban's four liners interspersed - making it a very engrossing read) right now.. the single thing that stands out most in these books is this concept of karma.. told and retold in every little fable within these epics.. its astounding how these books have been so powerful in laying the foundation of the culture of India.. fear of our action and the corresponding reaction..

i recently went through a bad experience.. and the western medicine practice here simply called it a statistical issue and how we cannot help these things and how it's all part of life.. but when i talk about it to any indian.. the first thought is bad karma.. and they say it's good, the bad karma is gone... now you can start fresh.. and that makes me guilty trying to correlate which bad action i did that led to this horror in my life..

when rama goes to the forest, dasaratha remembers the curse on him by shravan's parents and thinks this is his due.. in some ways, putting the blame on fate/karma makes it easier to accept your lot - since it has now become your due, rather than an unpleasant surprise that life hurled at you.. but it also leads to some sort of a fatalism.. the fate concept subdues our reaction to any incident.. makes us less angry.. and that is scary..

just imagine.. if a child got killed by a drunk driver on the road.. the american mother starts a "mothers against drunk driving" NGO.. the indian mother would think it happened because she scolded the kid a lot when he was alive and that she deserved it.. (a common belief that scolding your kids causes them to have accidents) - the reaction is so much lower.. there is so much more acceptance!

anyways.. i always knew that this karma concept was fundamental to hinduism.. but reading these books and the thousand subtle ways in which it reinforces the principle is incredible..

so much food for thought :) - but it did help to put this in writing.. as my friend says.. write for my own self!!

maalika

Ennamma thozhi bommaya kaanom...

recently heard this song.. and it keeps ringing in my head.. the more i try not to think about it, the more it keeps resounding in my head.. struggling to accept it.. and move on...


Ennamma thozhi bommaya kaanom
Naa enna seiya poren
Thala vari pinni, pookkal vaithu
Pudhu chattai pottu vittu..
Ippasi masam kaveri snanam…
Bommaya vaangi vandhen
Thaalattu naan pada kanmooda mattayo
Maraindha podhum… manadhil ennum …
Malarodu pesum mazhalai geetham ..

Maranam ella varam kettu…
Maru jenman ondrirundhal maari vidum…
Mugam madhiyo udal nadhiyo…
Melliya kai viralgal pulveliyo….
Kaalai pozhudhellam kaathirukkum
Ival vizhi kaanamal kalai izhakkum…

Ennamma thozhi…