By Swami Chidananda
One of the frequently asked questions with regard to “action and its results” (karma and its phala) is, “What caused our first birth?” If our present birth (and the life following the birth) is because of our own past actions, and our future births will be the result of other actions on our part, there is a ‘beginningless and endless’ cycle of births and deaths, caused by the inexhaustible collection of ‘karmas’ in our (the jeeva-ātmā’s) account. Where is the way out?
The Vedānta, as though with a mischievous smile, admits, “There cannot be an end to the cycle of karmas but you may ‘transcend’ this whole frame of reference!”
All our karmas vanish when THAT supreme truth is beheld.
ksheeyante chāsya karmāni,tasmin drishte parāvare
Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.8
(Mundaka 2, Khanda 2, Mantra 8)
To behold the truth implies ‘jnāna’ and not any amount of karma. ‘Karma’ can never liberate us. In other words, the sphere of cause and effect is indeed one of no beginning and no end; the liberating wisdom helps us transcend this sphere, where we discover our true nature, which was-is-and-will be ever free.