“Why?” in philosophy

In pursuit of the ultimate goal of realization it is natural to stumble upon multiple “why”s in the journey. The “Why?” in philosophy can take multiple forms. At the mundane level there are questions like – Why is someone more successful than me? Why am I not lucky? Why do problems always find me?… At a broader level there are questions like – Why is a child born with a deformity? Why is there so much poverty? Why is there suffering in the world?… Ultimately, these lead to final question, Why is the universe, with all its flaws, formed? or at a personal level, Why is my life the way it is?

Vedic philosophy provides four different answers for the “Why?” in philosophy, one each for the four margs (paths) to liberation – karma (action), bhakti (devotion), raja (yoga), and jnana (knowledge).

Karma Marg

In karma marg, the answer to all the “why”s is one’s past actions; good or bad. The theory of karma is simple. You reap the results of your prior actions. The prior actions can be in this life or the many lives you have already lived. This explains suffering in babies. The baby has not incurred much karma in its present life, but the baby has had many lives before and the baby’s birth is a result of the good and bad actions in all those previous lives.

Karma marg sounds simple, but in reality, it is not very simple to follow. In karma marg, You, because of your past actions, are responsible for everything that happens. So, at its purest, there is no one to blame for bad things that happen and no one to thank for good things that happen. It is all just a result of your own actions.

Bhakti Marg

In bhakti marg, the answer to all the “why”s is that it is the leela (play) of the divine (god). Therefore, good and bad things that happen are all attributed to the whim of the ultimate god you believe in.

This again sounds simple, but is also very hard to follow. In its purest form, you surrender yourself completely to god and just play along in his/her master play.

Karma marg and Bhakti marg represent opposite ends of one’s ideology. In one (Karma) you are responsible for everything. In the other (bhakti) you are not responsible for anything. We typically live with a blend of these ideologies – all good things are because of me and all bad things are because of god!

Raja/Yoga Marg

In yoga marg, the answer to all the “why”s is Maya or Illusion. Life is like a movie you are seeing. When you are engrossed in the movie you feel emotions based on the happenings in the movie. When you step back, you realize that the movie is an illusion and you are just observing the illusion.

In this path, the goal is to separate yourself from the world around you. Techniques like yoga and meditation assist in this. When you are in deep meditation, there is no world and worry and you feel blissful. However, when you wake up, the problems come back!

Jnana Marg

In jnana marg, the answer to all the “why”s is that there is no creation at all. The idea is that all questions are in the mind. So, if you go beyond the mind, there is no world, no suffering, and no questions. This is the basic tenet of Advaitic Vedanta.

Yoga and Jnana are similar in that they both give very little importance to the world or the person. Yoga and Jnana are different in how to deal with it. In yoga you try to shut the world out. In Jnana you understand that you are beyond the world.

Unfortunately, “Why?” in philosophy does not have an easy answer. None of the four paths are easy. Most people use a blend of all the paths. Your daily routine could consist of service to people (karma), worship of god (bhakti), meditation (yoga), and listening to Upanishads (jnana).

Comments are closed.