Record Keeping of Man's Karma

Ever wondered how the principles of death and rebirth work. 

What rules govern the "Book of Accounts of Man's Karma?

Who maintains the accounts book?

Well, in this article, we will discuss this in detail.

Yamaraja, the god of death, states that the body has two parts, the Soul and the Body. The soul is immortal and is surrounded by the flesh, the mind, and the memories. Only the body dies which acts as a vessel for the soul.

Death happens when Yama-dutas, messengers of Yama, drag the soul out of the body. During this time, the body becomes unresponsive to all worldly stimuli and starts to decay, which in response, the body is cremated. During the funeral ceremonies, the relatives of the body encourage the soul to travel to the land of death, where God Yama rules and Pitr resides.

Yama is the ruler of the dead. He moves toward all creatures from the day they are born. He determines the future circumstances of the life of all the creatures based on the records of past deeds.

 Pitr are the ancestors, the dead awaiting rebirth. Yama determines their fate, but before doing so, he always consults his accountant, Chitragupta, who maintains a record of a creature's actions and past deeds in their lifetime. Chitragupta classifies these deeds as debt and equity. Selfish actions that make demands of the world and indulge the ego are debt-incurring actions. Selfless actions where the ego sacrifices its pleasure for the sake of the world are equity-earning actions. If there are debts that a Pitr has to repay, Yama ties him with a noose and fetters him to the world, forcing him to be reborn. If there are no debts to repay, Yama lets Pitr go, liberated from the obligation of rebirth. Thus rebirth and release are the two possible destinations for the dead.

According to the law of karma, every creature is obliged to experience the reactions of all actions. When it is clear that a Pitr has debts to repay and must take rebirth, Yama determines the circumstances of its next life:-

• Time of birth
• Time of death
• Type of body
• Type of family and
• Its fortunes and misfortunes.

All these are based on Chitragupta's records. Yama carries out his duty dispassionately. There is no bias in his decisions. He is therefore Dharma, the god of order.

Just as a creature enters Swarga or heaven by accumulating equity, a creature sinks to Naraka or hell under the burden of debts.

                                   Death of the Pandavas

After the war, the Pandavas and their common wife Draupadi, after ruling Hastinapur for 36 years decided to renounce the world. They believed that they had established a righteous kingdom on earth and that they had earned enough equity to enter Swarga with their mortal bodies. To reach Swarga they decided to climb Meru. Unfortunately, they slipped and died one by one. The series was;

1. Draupadi, as she preferred Arjuna over other husbands
2. Sahadeva, as he was prideful of his knowledge
3. Nakula, as he was arrogant about his good looks
4. Arjuna, as he was jealous of other archers, and lastly
5. Bhima, as he was a glutton.

Only Yudhisthira was able to reach Swarga. Then to his horror, he found that all the Kauravas were there but no sign of his brothers. He asked "Why?", Yama explained, "Because the Kauravas died as warriors are supposed to. This earned them so much merit that their all debts were canceled. Yudhisthira then asked about where his brothers and wife were, Yama took him to Naraka. He explained, "They are experiencing the reactions of their actions. This is temporary. Once the debt has been repaid, they will join the Kauravas. You too have to experience Naraka for the one and only white lie you spoke in your entire lifetime.

This story indicates that the law of Karma is not easy to fathom. It informs that there is always hope in the Hindu world, even for the worst of villains, Paap can be overcome by Punya, i.e., debts can be offset with equity.