Among births numberless, that of man

Is rare, rare indeed ;

When this birth is lost, what will happen I know not.

Hence

O thou Supreme of Supreme,

The good desiring to attain Sivajnana, ever perform good deeds and Tapas and make gifts.

And so this doctrine of Karma instead of leading to quietism and indifference, inculcates a life of active beneficence "desiring the welfare of all "and furnishes as good and sure a basis for perfect ethical conduct as any other system in the World.

But even when doing good works, he is not to have any regard for the result, he is to do it without tasting the fruits thereof, as this tends to bind him to the world still by producing the physical body and will not effect his final release from this body; and after performing evil and good, he attains to becoming balanced in good and evil, pain and pleasure. This does not mean that he should so perform actions, that all his good actions will weigh as much as his bad actions, or doing as much punyam as papam, but it is attaining to a condition of viewing deeds either good or bad without either liking or disliking, a condition of being described as

In such a condition, man is not impelled or attracted by any thing which will give him pleasure, he will not be deterred simply because it will cause him pain. Such objects of desire in the world are wealth, health and gratification, and we hate all those acts which will produce the opposite results. To such a person, wealth and poverty, food and poison, praise and blame, will be equally welcome, and one looks on all these as one looks on dust or chaff, without desire or aversion. It is when a man attains to this condition of

orthat he is led in pursuit of the highest Ideals, to do the greatest acts of heroism, and the most magnanimous acts of self-sacrifice, and suffer the greatest martyrdom. The story of the churning of the Ocean is full of this meaning. The gods who were pained at their poverty, and desired wealth, came to reap the fire of the poison, which arose as a result of their own self-seeking, and the Supreme Being who appeared there, not for the sake of any reward, but for the sole purpose of saving the distressed gods, was not affected by the Poison which he swallowed.

So that when God willed to create this earth and the heavens, it was not the result of a mere whim or play, it was not for his own improvement or benefit, it was not for his self-glorification or self-realization, but he willed out of his Infinite Love and Mercy towards the innumerable souls, who were rotting in their bondage, enshrouded in Anava mala, without self knowledge and self-action, that they be awakened cut of their kevala condition and move into the cycle or evolution, births and deaths, whereby alone they can effect their salvation. One helped on to this, by being given bodies, faculties etc, out of matter, they begin to do, accumulate karma, which has to be eaten fully before the the indifference to pain and pleasure, can be gained. In the process of eating the 'bitter fruits' and gaining (balance), one gathers experience and wisdom and the knowledge of Truth! And unless this Truth be gained, the soul's salvation is a mere myth and nothing more.