#38, MY KARMA, YOUR KARMA, HIS KARMA, HER KARMA
The word "karma" has special fascination for Swami Vivekananda. There are three commonly used senses for karma by Indians: 1. Karma1 meaning: doing one's duty without expecting results and fruits. More completely we can call it: Nishkama karma. This is a virtue, for anybody. 2. Karma2 meaning: performing rituals like penance, charity and sacrifice as stipulated by scriptures. These actions yield good results (people's belief). A person who stops performing one's karma, becomes a "sanyasi (monk)". 3. Karma3 meaning: Often used in a derogatory fatalistic sense: "It is all my fate i.e. fruits of karma carried forward from previous births". Swami Vivekananda used the word Karma in its Karma3 meaning at: a) My KARMA He wrote to E.T. Sturdy (renowned Sanskrit scholar) on 14th September 1899 from Ridgely Manor, U.S.A. : "Of course, it is my karma ..." . In this letter, he lamentED that by being made to wear loin cloth i...