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Karma as the Source of Diversity

The vedas acknowledge divine karma as the origin of all creation, preservation, and destruction. However, since God does not have desires, unlike humans, he is not constrained by them. In the first chapter of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.6.1), we discover that karma is one of the three main causes of diversity, alongside name and form. The variety in names is a result of speech, and the variety in forms is a result of the eye, while the mind and body are the sources for the variety in actions. For every action, the body serves as the source, the controller, or the lord.  Within the body, the mind, speech, breath, organs of action, and organs of perception are regarded as the primary deities who receive sustenance from the body and carry out their respective functions. Nevertheless, we cannot solely depend on them to combat the impurities and the malevolent forces that can infiltrate our body, as they are susceptible to evil and demonic influences, thoughts, desires, temptations,...
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Karma as the Source of Diversity


The vedas acknowledge divine karma as the origin of all creation, preservation, and destruction. However, since God does not have desires, unlike humans, he is not constrained by them. In the first chapter of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.6.1), we discover that karma is one of the three main causes of diversity, alongside name and form. The variety in names is a result of speech, and the variety in forms is a result of the eye, while the mind and body are the sources for the variety in actions. For every action, the body serves as the source, the controller, or the lord. 

Within the body, the mind, speech, breath, organs of action, and organs of perception are regarded as the primary deities who receive sustenance from the body and carry out their respective functions. Nevertheless, we cannot solely depend on them to combat the impurities and the malevolent forces that can infiltrate our body, as they are susceptible to evil and demonic influences, thoughts, desires, temptations, and intentions.


Among them, only the breath is reliable because it is autonomous and not influenced by our desires or thoughts. In other words, symbolically the verse suggests that rituals and sacrifices in which you make offerings to gods and invoke them cannot guarantee us protection from evil or from the consequences of sinful karma as the gods themselves are vulnerable to hunger, temptations, and desire. We can only attain that by resorting to deep breathing and finding solace within ourselves, as these are impervious to the influence of evil. 

Surely, rudimentary ideas such as these must have led to the belief that the mind and the body must be restrained and purified through the practice of breath control (pranayama), withdrawal of senses (pratyahara), and righteous conduct (yamas and niyamas) to stabilize the mind in the contemplation of the self. Subsequently, they might have led to the development of classical yoga as detailed in the yoga sutras of patanjali as a system of spiritual discipline and school of philosophy.

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