Can we escape from karma if we do not do any activity?
A devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
“Hare Krishna !!! Prabhu ji I have one doubt that if we do ‘good’ karmas then we would be promoted to heaven or even we re-incranise means we again came to the earth which is full of misries , to get results of our good karmas . So acc to above statement we should not do any kind of karmas. Othrwise we will again suffer from birth n death …?? Plz clear this point as soon as possible. Hare Krishna”
REPLY:
Who told you to abstain from any work? Can you remain even a single minute without doing anything? Even when you sleep, you are breathing; You are yawning; You are rubbing your body, etc.
Krishna never told us to stop working. Krishna’s words are very practical and absolute truth. Did Krishna asked Arjuna to abstain from war? No. He instructed Arjuna to fight the war as it is his Sva-dharma, ie, prescribed duty.
If you skip your duties, you won’t get bread and butter to eat. Then how will you live?
OK, though you claim that you get biksha from others, you have to work by “EATING”. When you eat the food through mouth, 1000s of micro-organisms die and you add karma. What will you do?
So, you can never avoid karma by these mechanical and material means.
Let us se what Krishna says about avoiding our works in Bhagavad Gita:
Ch-3, Text-4:
Not by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom from reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one attain perfection.
Ch-3, T-5:
All men are forced to act helplessly according to the impulses born of the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.
Ch-3, T-6:
One who restrains the senses and organs of action, but whose mind dwells on sense objects, certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.
Ch-3, T-8:
Perform your prescribed duty, for action is better than inaction. A man cannot even maintain his physical body without work.
Thus, Krishna has so far said that no one can refrain from working. They will be forced to work any way. So, we can not avoid karma by abstaining from working.
Only if you work for yourself, you will get repeated birth and deaths in heavens, earth, etc. However there is a way to stop birth and death even by doing duties.
Can we avoid karma even while doing our duties?
Yes! It is possible. You can work as well as avoid karma. How?
Stop working to satisfy your senses. Stop working for fame and money and to enjoy this material world.
Instead, start working to please Krishna; Dedicate all your works for Krishna and accept whatever is given by Him. Don’t long for fruits of your actions. You will be given your share by Krishna. He knows WHAT, HOW and WHEN to give. So, EXPECTING FRUITS gives next births and deaths. Just work because, you have to perform your karthavya karma (Prescribed or assigned duty). Karthavya karma (Prescribed duty) means those duties that we get naturally and according toour varna.
Now, Krishna beautifully says HOW SHOULD WE WORK TO AVOID KARMA:
Ch-3, T-9:
Work done as a sacrifice for Visnu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage.
C-3, T-19:
Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty; for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme.
This is the method. Remember, though you skip your duties and go to forest to live alone, remember that you can not avoid working in forests also. You have to eat, excrete, breathe, sleep…. all are works.
So, stop these dangerous thoughts of stopping working and perform your prescribed duties for Krishna. Thus, you can work without adding karma.
Easy. Isn’t it?