For all living beings in this world, pleasure and sorrow alternate according to their karma, that is, punya and papa. Man does not refrain from karma even for a moment. His vasanas from previous births goad him into doing good or bad acts through speech, mind and body, nowingly or unknowingly. At the time of fruition of his karma, he experiences happiness from good karma and sorrow from bad karma through speech, mind and body.
Not understanding the nature of this cycle, he mistakenly concludes that pleasure is caused by friends and pain by foes. Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada describes it thus:
From this, it must be clear that it is one’s own karma that becomes the cause of one’s joy and sorrow.
There is one more point. Karma, no doubt, creates bondage, but, performed with dedication to God, it leaves no bondage.
Sri Krishna Paramatma explains this in the Gita thus:
Here yajna means Isvara . That is, whoever keeps performing prescribed karma without ego, in a spirit of dedication to God, attains purity of mind and sreyas through God’s grace.
Hence, may all who desire sreyas perform their karmas with dedication to Isvara and attain their well being.
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