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MAN AGAINST NATURE
immovable; whether one is to be beautiful or ugly of one's kind, commanding sympathy or inspiring disgust, winning honor and fame or suffering ill-repute: all of these details are determined by this "karma of the proper name.” Nāma-karma is like the painter filling in with his brush the distinguishing features of a portrait, making the figure recognizable and quite particular. g) The karma that establishes the family into which the individual is to be born (gotra-karma). This, properly, should be a subdivision of the above, but owing to the enormous importance of the circumstance of caste in India it has been given the weight of a special category. Destiny and all the prospects of life are limited greatly by the house into which one is born. h) The karma that produces obstacles (antarāyakarma). Within this category a number of subdivisions are described. i. Dāna-antarāya-karma: this prevents us from being as self-detached and munisicent in the bestowal of alms on holy people and the poor as we should like to be. ii. Lābha-antarāyakarma: this keeps us from receiving alms-a particularly nasty karma, since holy men depend on gists, as do all religious institutions. (In the West, for example, a university afflicted with this bad influence would be forced to close for lack of funds.) iii. Bhoga-antarāya-karma: this keeps us from enjoying events. We arrive late for the party. Or while we are eating the cake we keep wishing that we could keep it too. iv. Upablogaantarāya-karma: as a result of this frustration we are unable to enjoy the pleasurable objects that are continually around-our houses, gardens, fine clothes, and women. v. Virya-antarāyakarma: as a result of which we cannot bring ourselves to act: there is a paralysis of the will.
In all, exactly one hundred and forty-eight varieties and effects of karma are described, and these work, in sum, in two directions. 1. Ghâti-karma ("striking, wounding, killing karma") subtracts from the infinitc powers of the life-monad, and 2. aghāti-karma (“non-striking karma”) adds limiting qualities
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| SR No. | 007309 |
| Book Title | Philosophies of India |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Heinrich Zimmer, Joseph Campbell |
| Publisher | Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd |
| Publication Year | 1953 |
| Total Pages | 709 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 34 MB |