| Home | “Anyone who is fully conversant with all the intricacies of this law of karma, or fruitive activities, does not become affected by the results of his activities.” |
On the surface, the following three statements seem to be
flawed, but are they?
1. “You get what you pay for.”
2. “There’s no such thing as a free ride.”
3. “You can’t get something for nothing.”
You might say, “But what about someone who wins the lottery?” But, if you examine actual case histories of lottery winners, many of them win by buying a tremendous number of lottery tickets over a period of years. This means that they have made a very big sacrifice in order to win. Also, many of them suffer very greatly because of the fact that their friends and relatives become envious. Some marriages even break up after the husband or wife wins the lottery. Also, gambling is sinful because it is going against the laws of God. Therefore whatever pleasure we might attain by gambling is going to result in even greater suffering.
If someone comes into a lot of money without seeming to have had to work for it, and doesn’t seem to be suffering very much because of it, it is because of austerity or pious works performed in a previous life.
Here is a practical, everyday example of a decision which can adversely affect our karma. Suppose we are shopping for ice cream. We have a choice of paying $5 for “all natural” ice cream or $3 for ice cream that contains “artificial flavor,” but tastes just as good. The $2 difference in cost results in providing more money for increasing our pleasure in some other way, and we still get just as much pleasure out of eating the ice cream. Sounds like we got something for nothing, doesn’t it? But, according to the law of karma, this it not possible. The “artificial flavor” is going to cause us some even greater expense in the future: all of the $2 differences that we have “saved” over the years, plus interest. This karma will have to be paid back somehow or other—perhaps in the form of some illness or physical disability caused by the chemical additive used to produce the “artificial flavor.”
This does not mean, however, that we should not try to be frugal. For example, if canned goods go on sale, it might be a good idea to stock up, provided that we have some extra space to store them. Taking the extra time to “shop around” and compare prices is simply another way of using our time and intelligence to increase our buying power. In other words, we are getting paid for doing valuable work, and if we help others by informing them of the bargains that we have found, we get even more “pious credits.” This method of increasing our buying power is even better than getting a part time job, because the extra money it makes available to us is not taxable.
These things all take a great deal of common sense, and a sensitivity to the subtle workings of the material world around us.
“Anyone who is fully conversant with all the intricacies of this law of karma, or fruitive activities, does not become affected by the results of his activities.” (Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, Chapter 4, Verse 15 Purport)
Therefore, the above three statements, when the universal law of karma is taken into account, are definitely true.
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