Yudhishthira Asks Markandeya About Karma and Destiny

Yudhishthira had been watching for a long time. He had lost his kingdom, his brothers had been exiled with him, and the sons of Dhritarashtra — the very men who had cheated him at dice — sat in prosperity in Hastinapura. The injustice was not abstract. It was daily, visible, grinding. When the great sage Markandeya arrived in the forest, Yudhishthira saw his chance. He asked the question that had been forming in him since the dice game: "Man is the agent for all his deeds, be they good or evil, and reaps the fruits. How can god then be the agent? Why is there happiness and unhappiness for men? Are those fruits in this body? Or in another body later? When an animal is dead, where do his deeds remain?" Markandeya heard the question. He did not dismiss it. "In the beginning," he said, "Prajapati created pure embodied beings with unblemished bodies. They were all devoted to dharma. They could soar up to the sky to meet with the gods. They could die when they willed. They lived when they willed. They faced few difficulties and had no fear." But over time, these beings changed. They were overcome by desire and anger. They began to thrive on duplicity and deceit. Greed and delusion took hold, and the gods abandoned them. They performed evil and impure deeds and were reborn as inferior species, or went to hell. They were repeatedly cooked in this world in different ways. Their lives became short and wicked. They became dependent on every kind of desire. They were atheists and destroyed all institutions. This was the origin of the world as Yudhishthira knew it — a world where good men suffered and evil men prospered, because the original purity had been lost. But Markandeya was not finished. He answered Yudhishthira's deeper question — where do deeds reside after death? "In the original subtle body created by the gods," he said, "man accumulates a great store of good and evil deeds. When his life is over, he gives up the body that is almost destroyed and is immediately reborn in a different womb, without any gap. In that, his good deeds follow him like a shadow." The deeds do not vanish. They cling to the subtle body — the form that persists through death and rebirth — and determine what comes next. Some things are due to destiny. Some things are due to chance. And some things are due to one's own action. That is how men come by their fate. Markandeya then laid out the four kinds of men. Some find greatness in this world, but not in the hereafter — those addicted to bodily pleasures. Others find it in the hereafter, but not in this world — those united with yoga and austerities, whose bodies decay while they study and control their senses. Others find it in both — those who first lead a life of dharma, obtain prosperity through it, marry, perform sacrifices, and enjoy both worlds. And some find it in neither — the ignorant ones who ignore learning, austerities, and donations, and do not have offspring. Then Markandeya turned directly to Yudhishthira. "All of you are extremely valorous and powerful. You are divine in your energy. You have obtained learning. Your bodies are capable. To accomplish the task of the gods, you have been born in this world from the one hereafter. Having performed great deeds and having satisfied the gods, the rishis and the masses of ancestors with austerities, rituals and conduct, in due course, you will later attain heaven through your own deeds. Do not suffer from anxiety. Do not trouble your mind because of these difficulties. You are deserving of happiness."