All World
Gayatri Pariwar

      The Indian mythology states that “Chitragupta” maintains the records of our karma, which shapes our future destiny.  But who is Chitragupta? Is it another name of God? Or, does it refer to a superhuman, angel or is it simply an allegory?      

Most of us are generally curious to know our future. As rational beings we feel that it is by and large determined by our efforts but still can’t create or predict it. Some of us may consider the uncertainty to be governed by some ‘unknown’ random law of Nature (or Murphy’s Law!). Whatever be the case, the word “fate” or destiny is very much a part of our natural inquisitiveness to know — why different people have different fates, or why people born in the same family, brought up in same environment, having the same qualifications and talents end up getting drastically different destinies in their professional and social lives? To a varied extent, we do feel concerned about ‘our stars’, horoscope, palm-maps, ‘cards’, etc that are commonly regarded as ‘indicators’ of fate.  So let us examine what this fate is?

The Indian mythology states that “Chitragupta” maintains the records of our karma, which shape our future destiny.  But who is Chitragupta? Is it another name of God? Or, does it refer to a superhuman, angel or is it simply an allegory?      

The number of human beings inhabiting this earth itself is in billions. If we take into account the other living beings of millions of non-human species, the total number would be beyond mathematical calculation. It would be an impossible task for an individual being, howsoever superbly evolved, to work day and night without rest for millions of years maintaining records of each moment of life of innumerable beings of the cosmos. Impracticability of maintenance of such a stupendous record puts a question mark on the very existence of Chitragupta.  Modern science, however, substantiates the reality underlying the metaphorical descriptions given in the scriptures.

Science has now established that all mental, verbal and physical activities carried out by an individual having a discriminative mind leave subtle impressions on the deeper levels of the psyche. In this way, like the compressed audio-visual recordings of events on a microchip of the computer or compact disc, all good and evil deeds are being recorded in the hidden chambers of the subconscious mind. This record, like that of an ultra compact disk, remains in storage till it is required to be processed at a desired moment through an appropriate mechanism.

In Indian science of spirituality, karma stands for any physical, verbal, mental or social activity. Because of the evolved state of human-consciousness, each karma ‘automatically and instantaneously’ generates a subtle mental imprint. These imprints cannot be erased before the karma results in the consequent effect (karmaphal) at the appropriate time – in this life or in any future life in any form. The scriptures also describe that the Supreme Creator (Lord Brahma) inscribes the destiny on the forehead of a human being and this Divine Inscription cannot be erased by anyone. Let us examine this concept from a scientific point of view. Studies based on sophisticated mapping of brain activities by functional MRI etc, show innumerable furrows in the grey matter all over the brain. Medical science has not so far fully deciphered the biological implications of these indentations. Comparative studies of different subjects have shown that density of these crenulations in the grey matter of highly evolved persons and thinkers is much more, than in the case of common masses. It shows that these ‘microscopic’ lines in the grey matter of the brain are nothing but compact subtle impressions created by external activities. This finding supports the possibility of imprints of mental, vocal and physical actions. The record of activities (good and evil deeds) on the neuronal ‘memory chips’ proves the existence of an adept, intelligent mechanism, which Hindu Mythology refers to as Chitragupta. Linguistically, the Sanskrit word “Chitragupta” means “a hidden picture”.  This refers to our inner mind, the unconscious mind or more precisely the “chitta”.  [The impressions recorded on chitta could be understood in simple terms by automatic backup storage in the CPU of all the programmes executed on a computer].

As per the deeper science of spirituality, human consciousness works at four subtle ‘processors’ or ‘cores’ of consciousness; namely – mana (conscious mind), buddhi (intellect), chitta (the subconscious and the unconscious mind, the core of intrinsic tendencies) and ahamkara (the sense of self-identity). These collectively define an individual self (jivatma) and are carried forward with the subtle body life after life.  The subtle imprints on the ‘hidden register’ of chitta — hence the gupta-Chitta (or Chitragupta) control the future course of life.  It is a scientifically established fact that the active part of the human brain, which is only a tiny fraction of its total capacity (~ 7% in case of the most trenchant, most intelligent and most active mind!), itself has an infinite potential for storage and processing of information. It has also been affirmed that the subconscious and the unconscious minds control the continuous functioning of the brain. Thus there is no doubt about the limitless capacities of the unconscious mind. So the “Chittragupta” referred in the vedic texts is indeed ageless and limitless Super- consciousness which continuously maintains the records of every action, every thought, every feeling of individual beings.

How do Chitragupta’s records account for fate?

The self-regulated mechanism of the eternal Consciousness Force keeps a continuous micro-record of our deeds in a subtle form, as mental inscriptions. Upon death, these ‘shorthand notes’ (in the subconscious layers of chitta) serve the purpose of ‘testimony’ for objective evaluation of the total span of our present life.

As we all know, the human mind works at two levels: one external and the other internal. The outer mind, which we experience all the time except while in the state of sound sleep, is analytical. It analyses the pros and cons, accepts and discards, infers, aspires as per the urges of the senses and is driven by extrovert tendencies. It takes decisions with the help of intellect, but frequently changes its resolutions. The inner mind, on the other hand, is like an innocent but resolute child. It neither accepts nor discards anything, but as the true faithful representative of the divine, functions impartially toward divine justice.

The external mind may think of escaping punishment by suppressing or overlooking the recordings of the lines of evil deeds and highlight only the virtuous deeds for reward. The inner mind (conscience is one of its constituents), on the other hand, works differently. It takes decisions like an unbiased judge of highest integrity, who cannot be influenced by allurement, fear or any vested interest. It is said that in each human being there co-exist a saint and a devil. You may consider the sublime inner mind as a representative of divinity and the external mind, which is ever engaged in reasoning, rationalizing, deliberating, conspiring and hypocrisy, as a tool of the devil. The external mind may deceive the soul by justifying each and every action of a person. The inner-mind, on the contrary, is the flame of the soul and a projection of the Absolute Truth. It is, therefore, incapable of conceit and deceit and is innately calm and detached. That is why God has entrusted it with such crucial responsibility. For the common man, it is the deity Chitragupta. Being absolutely impartial, this deity has been given the high seat of Divine Judge. Like a secret service agent, this deity is all the time vigilantly shadowing a person and recording his actions in its secret diary.

In human society, there are two departments for punishing the violators of law- namely the police and the judiciary. The police arrests the accused, collects the evidence and presents these before the judicial court. Thereafter the process of justice takes over. The judge delivers the judgment after considering all aspects of the offence and related circumstances. Depending on the circumstantial evidence, individuals are handed down varied sentences for the same type of offence.

Let us consider an example. Three persons are accused of killing a person. Because of different circumstances associated with the crime, one is set free, the second person is sentenced to five years of imprisonment and the third is sent to the electric chair. The person, who was released, was a mason. While working at an elevated level, he had accidentally dropped a brick, which killed a passerby. The presiding judge found that the brick was dropped accidentally and unintentionally, without an ulterior motive. Hence the accused was released without punishment. The second accused was a farmer. Finding a thief stealing his crop, he had given him a fatal blow, killing the offender. Taking into consideration the circumstances, which prompted the offence, the judge surmised that though it was natural for the farmer to show his anger towards someone stealing his property, nevertheless, since he had over-reacted to a small offence, a sentence of five years imprisonment was appropriate. The third person was a notorious robber who had robbed a rich man and intentionally killed him in the process. In this way the worldly court of justice pronounces judgment after minutely examining all circumstantial evidences.

In the inner-mind the ‘coded’ notes of Chitragupta discharge the dual responsibility of God’s police and court of justice. In the material world, if the prosecutor presents inadequate or false evidence, the judgment of the court is likely to be flawed, but in the inner occult world there is absolutely no possibility of such miscarriage of justice. The inmost mind, being the direct and transparent witness to all physical as well as mental activities of a person, is fully aware of the intentions, motives and circumstances of each and every action. Being fully aware, it does not require the testimony of the external mind or intellect to arrive at a conclusion. In Divine Justice the gravity of a sin (vice) or merit of a virtue is decided on the basis of the motive and degree of emotional involvement with the deed. Whereas in the material world objects are measured materially on the basis of their mundane worth, this measure is irrelevant for dispensing Divine Justice. The material world may ignore a poor donor of ten cents and admire a person donating ten thousand dollars, but in Divine Jurisprudence the worth of such acts of altruism will not be assessed on this gross physical basis.

Let us take an example. In a remote, undeveloped tribal area, one may barter a kilogram of food grains for sugar, but in a developed country one has to pay in hard currency. In the material world, people do earn fame and name by making large contributions to charity, helping in popular welfare activities, joining religious or charitable institutions, delivering or listening to sermons and participating in pilgrimages; but the “Domain of Chitragupta” does not accept this currency. The ledgers of this domain record only debits and credits of motives and emotional involvements in the performance of deeds and convert these into virtues and sins accordingly.

Upon being exhorted by his Divine Teacher Lord Krishna, Arjuna got millions killed in the war of Mahabharata. This great Armageddon, during which the entire battlefield became littered with corpses, took place because Arjun agreed to take part in the war. In this way, Arjuna could have been considered a great sinner, but Chitragupta gave credit to his motive for waging the Mahabharata war. Arjuna’s intentions were pious. He had fought only to re-establish the ‘Supreme Moral Order’ (dharma sthapana). Chitragupta’s ‘ledger’ did not take into account the slain bodies of the soldiers. Physical objects have no relevance in the invisible realm. Chitragupta simply ignored the number of toys of flesh and bones destroyed during the war.

Does a king bother about the number of toys broken or the number of grains spilled? In this world billionaires are held in high regard but in the realm of God they are paupers and non-entities. On the other hand a poor man of this world, if he is kind hearted, could be counted in His realm amongst the king of kings. Whatever a man does, only his motives - good or bad - are recorded in the corresponding account of Chitragupta. A public executioner, who, in course of duty, hangs a person condemned to death without any malice, could be considered a virtuous person by Chitragupta, whereas a priest, who meticulously follows the rituals, but is secretly engaged in corrupt practices, will be labeled as a sinner.

In the realm of the Lord of Divine Law (Dharmaraj), the decorations of the exterior world have no values. There only the interior worth is evaluated. It hardly matters whether externally an action of a person appears good or bad. The determining factor is the interior or emotional input. The roots of vices and virtues unquestionably lie in the intentions, in the nature and intensity of the intrinsic tendencies, the motives, the desires, and not in the external deeds.

To understand that the type and intensity of motive is directly proportional to the gravity or greatness of the sin or virtue respectively, take the example of two individuals nursing a sick person. Apparently both are engaged in the same service, but whereas one is doing it indifferently, the other serves with tenderness, sympathy, large-heartedness and love. Here, in spite of apparently identical service, the measure of virtue will depend on the quality of emotional involvement and love. Similarly, amongst two thieves, one of which is compelled to steal because of starvation and the other steals for acquiring drugs, the sin will undoubtedly be considered greater in the latter case.

In the foregoing paragraphs we have discussed how Chitragupta, a component of our own inner self, impartially records our good and bad deeds on the sub-microscopic elements of our inner conscience and that this subtle recording is popularly known as the “Lines of Fate” (Karma Rekha). We have also understood that the process of divine justice does not regard an act as sinful or virtuous by the external appearance of the activity but on the basis of the quality of the motive of the doer.  In God’s jurisprudence, there is significant clause for treating each individual independently according to the state of purity of the soul. The laws of Spirit hold that each soul is perpetually in the process of progressive evolution i.e. purification through the course of successive cycles of birth and death. That is, at each successive stage the soul acquires greater purity and is given a body in the species of higher consciousness (wisdom). Being born as a human being is regarded as the most precious gift of conscious evolution, as this is the only life form where the individual self  gets a chance with full liberty to do good or bad karmas and accordingly write his/her destiny.  Human life alone offers the chance for liberation from the cycles of birth and death.  It is up to us how we, the architects of our own destinies, make use of this invaluable opportunity.