By Asutosh Varshney
In life, not every action produces an immediate result. Some deeds ripen slowly over time, waiting for the right circumstances to manifest.
These actions accumulate like stored energy and are known as Sanchit Karma (accumulated karma).
Their consequences may not be felt instantly, but when the time is right, they deliver results with absolute precision.
Karma does not perish; it remains recorded until its outcome is realised.
Just as a student takes an exam today and receives the result a month later, or a musician practices diligently in one lifetime and is born with natural musical talent in the next, certain actions require time before they mature and bear fruit.
Until then, they remain preserved in the ledger of destiny.
The Influence of Past Lives
The consequences of past lives extend into the present and shape the future. A profound example of this principle appears in the Mahabharata.
When King Dhritarashtra, father of the Kauravas, saw all his hundred sons perish in the Kurukshetra war, he was devastated.
Overwhelmed with grief, he questioned Lord Krishna, saying that he had never committed a sin so grave that it should result in the deaths of all his children at once.
Dhritarashtra pleaded for an explanation—how could such a tragedy be justified?
In response, Lord Krishna granted him divya drishti—divine vision—allowing him to witness events from his past lives. What Dhritarashtra saw revealed a forgotten truth:
The Sin of the Hunter
Fifty births earlier, Dhritarashtra had been a hunter. One day, while sitting beneath a tree, he cast a burning net upward in an attempt to capture birds perched on the branches.
Many birds managed to escape, flying away in fear.
However, due to the intense heat and smoke, they became blind, and one hundred tiny baby birds were burned to ashes inside their nest.
This cruel act became a karmic seed. Its consequences did not unfold immediately; instead, they remained dormant, preserved among his accumulated karmas for fifty lifetimes.
Only after Dhritarashtra performed enough good deeds to earn the blessing of having one hundred sons did the past karma ripen. When the time was right, it manifested with full force:
- He himself was born blind, just as the birds were blinded by his act.
- His hundred sons were destroyed, just as the hundred young birds had perished.
The karmic balance sheet was settled perfectly—not a moment too soon, not a moment too late.
The Timeless Law
Even fifty births later, the effects of actions continued to follow him until they were resolved. His accumulated karma waited patiently for the appropriate moment, and when the conditions were complete, the result unfolded instantly and precisely.
As the scriptures say, not even a grain of karma goes unpaid.
Jyotish Shastra (Vedic astrology) reflects this eternal truth. It reads the narrative of previous births and reveals how past karmic actions influence the present and shape the path ahead.
( The writer Asutosh Varshney has over 25 years of experience as a professional astrologer)
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