Dec 17, 2010, 12:00 IST

Timeframe needed for ripening the of fruits of karma

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Timefra- me needed for ripening the of fruits of karma 

          At times, the fruits of good-bad karmās do not materialise at once, but after a gap of some period or even in the next birth. The examples cited below will make this point clear.

1. ‘When a wave strikes a rock ,it does not shatter the rock; but when over a period such countless waves strike the rock, their cumulative effect becomes obvious. That rock splits.

2. A blade of grass has next to no weight; however if we keep on loading a whole lot of such blades onto a camel‘s back then by the time the final straw is loaded, it becomes a ‘last straw on camel’s back’.

3. A gale uproots a tree; however prior to that a lot of things cause weakening of the roots.’
   -       The answer to, why do some people despite performing sinful karmās throughout their life do not face sorrow whereas, some people even after doing meritorious karmās throughout their life do not become happy, can be comprehended from above analysis. Those abiding by the Dharma and yet facing sorrow are facing the fruits of the sinful karmās of the past lives. Conversely, the reason for those sinners leading a happy life is the merit of their past lives still being in their credit. However once their merit is exhausted they have to endure severe unhappiness.

   -   Those karmās that are related to an individual himself and not connected to demerit and merit, endow fruits at once. For example, when a hungry man partakes a meal his hunger is quenched at once. When we listen to music or watch a movie, we experience immediate happiness. When an individual does rigorous tasks or overeats, his muscles or stomach ache almost at once. In short, when sense organs are spurred, they endow happiness or unhappiness immediately.

   -     The karma that creates a greater merit or a great demerit reaches fruition quickly. For example, giving five rupees to a beggar does not catch anyone’s attention, but a donation of Rupees five crore (fifty million) to a hospital will result in the hospital being named after the donor. In the same way the search is on, on a war footing for thieves involved in bank robberies, terrorists causing bomb blasts etc. and they are punished severely but pursuit of petty thieves is not given as much importance. Yet the tragedy is, because of the sloppiness of the investigative agencies and a lethargic judicial system, big criminals remain unpunished for a long time !

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