Let me first start with a question. Who was more successful - Ram or Ravan? Lets look into some facts:
Ravan - had won all the heavenly Gods, had a capital where all the buildings were of gold (Golden Lanka), his fame was spread in the entire world, his power was acknowledged and feared by everyone. But - was deceitful, corrupt, disrespectful, anti-social, selfish, egomaniac, etc. Very similar to a modern day corrupt politician!
Ram - had all the knowledge of vedas, very humble, a very good administrator, social, law-abiding (maryada - purushottam), but - was sentenced to 14 yrs of exile before being crowned, his wife Sita was kidnapped while he was in forest, had to roam around in search for her, then again got separated with her while he was a king - basically there was always struggle in his life. Very similar to "good person"!
We always say Ram was successful - right? But in today's world, we might say it is Ravan (read corrupt people) who is/are successful. Why the difference? Where are we going wrong? Well the answer lies in the same books that defined karma - the Vedas, Bhagwat Gita, etc.
If you look closely, we say that Ram was successful because it is written in Ramayan and this knowledge is passed to us through grandparents, various TV shows, etc. The important thing to note is that in this case, karma and success is defined in the same place - in the book itself. Whereas in this question we are talking about definitions in two different places - karma defined in literature and "success" defined in this modern scientific world.
Lets look into what is success according to the books:
The Vedas, etc defines a person to be successful when he is highly spiritual, when he has won over anger, malice and greed. This person has no affinity for either power or money because he has realized the Ultimate truth that both of these are "not real" - these all are just sources of bondages and forces a person to deviate from the path that leads him towards God. This person is always satisfied and happy - irrespective of a loss or a win.
But in modern world, all the definitions have changed - power and money form THE matrix to compare people. Respect and social status matter more than realizing what's right or wrong. According to the text, this is what is called maya or false attractions and temptations that are sources of bondage to this physical world.
So can you now see, how the corrupt people are faaaaaaar away of being successful - according to the literature? If you believe in karma, you should refer to success as is presented in the literature. This is really what is referred to by "As you sow, so shall you reap". If you are corrupt, you would be more tempted towards money and power, leading you into bondage and ultimately failure!
I hope this would help clear confusion about this!
I have written various other answers clarifying the concept of Karma. One of these:
Bhagavad Gita says "not to worry or desire for the result but perform one's Karma". Won't this detachment from desired result kill the m...
Karma: Why do we need to take another birth to pay the karma of past life?
Another, explaining "What you sow is What you reap" : Do you believe in karma?
All answers - Shikhar-Agarwal - Karma
Read other answers by Shikhar Agarwal on Quora:
- How do I perform selfless Karma without worrying about the Results?
- Why does one have to suffer before becoming successful?
- Why was Dhritrastra not able to learn much from Gita narrated to him by Sanjay?
from Quora http://ift.tt/2aYbWks
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