Mahabharata : Karma and Karma-phalas
Mahabharata : Karma and Karma-phalas isa brief compilation of the contents appearing in the great epic Mahabharata. The compilation is not exhaustive in the sense that every para appearing in the great epic is not included here for the sake of limiting the size of this document. But still most of the key or representative passages have been compiled here. The contents are from Mahabharata excluding the Bhagavad Gita.
The discussion on karmas appears in various contexts in the epic. Readers who need a comprehensive view are encouraged to read my other compilations where karma with respect to specific aspects such as Varnas, Ashramas, Birth & death, Yogis, Trigunas, Dharma etc have been included. This work contains the commonly applicable or general aspects of karma.
The contents are arranged under following major headings & sub-headings:
Karma: Origin & causes, Birth & karmas, Nature of karmas, Character/nature & karmas, Human initiative, Daiva (destiny) & karma, Karmas to prevent avoid hurdles, Liberation from karmas/its bondage and Sakkam karma/Nishkaam karma
Karma-phalas (Fruits of action): General, Bhumi, Swarga, Naraka, Assignment/Allocation, Inevitability of experiencing, Sharing of fruits, When do karmas yield fruits, How are they experienced, Good phalas: How do they come, Neutralising/Mitigating/Balancing the fruits, and Illustrative story.
Bad/Wrong karmas: What prevents them?
Good/Auspicious karmas
Right ways/Attitude to perform karmas
Karmas needing atonement
Karma & Jnana
Some interesting arguments
I have extracted these contents from my other comprehensive & unique work on Mahabharata called Mahabharata–Spectroscope. Whereas the material in that was included in the order in which it appears in the original epic, in this compilation I have grouped them by meaningful Topics & Sub-topics thus making it much more useful to the student/scholar of this subject.
I hope the readers will find the document of some use in their study on these topics.
You can download the PDF here (1.66 MB; 59 pages)
For other Topic based compilations from Mahabharata see under Menus ‘Mahabharata’ and ‘More Compilations’