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activities with an unseen fruit in view there would be endless transmigration as they would incur karma by the performance of these activities, experience the fruition of karma in another birth, inspired by it again indulge in activities like charity, etc., again incur karma and so on; thus transmigration would be an endless affair for them and their existence would be full of pain and suffering. Even to this we should have no objection; but if this were true, in the absence of the accumulation of the unseen fruit of activities like cultivation, etc., there should not have been found anyone performing these activities and there should not have been found anyone experiencing the fruition of demerit or sin; while there should have been found only those who indulge in good activities like charity and those who enjoy the fruit of merit. But this is not what we find (1621).
What we find in the world is the reverse of this. And yet it may be noted that those who perform (sinful) activities like cultivation, etc. do not have the unseen fruit of the nature of adharma (demerit) in view. This shows that all action good or bad has an unseen fruit accordingly good or bad, of the nature of dharma or adharma. There are very many people in the world who perform sinful activities and very few who perform meritorious acts of charity, etc.. We may note that those who perform sinful activities like cultivation, etc. have only the tangible fruit in view and yet they do attain the unseen fruit which it was not their intention to obtain. Thus the unseen fruit follows invariably in the wake of an act of a sentient being. It may, further, be noted that the seen or the tangible fruit does not result invariably on the performance of an activity; all perform the same activity, yet some attain the tangible fruit-crop, wealth, etc., of cultivation, trade, etc., while others do not. The complement of operative causes being the same, this difference in the result can be explained only on the basis of some unseen cause and karma is that cause. This has been explained earlier (Gatha 1613). Karma is an effect and activity the cause; hence karma is essentially different from the cause (1622-1624).
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