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is at such a moment that truth reveals itself to him and on the vision of truth thus attained, a man becomes free from the entanglement of his karmic forces. This is a plain and simple teaching on Mokṣa and on the destruction of karma.1 The underlying principles of this simple story of king Kalingadatta may be brought out briefly as follows
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It is asserted that truth and the world of phenomena are the only objects existing and they are related to each other as two contradictories. Man with his consciounsess lies between these two extremes. The point to be noted is that when his attention is directed to the outside world, he is conscious of the world and moves about in it under the influence of karma. Such a man is described as an ignorant person to whom truth has not been revealed. The mind of such a man is always in a state of restlessness but when his attention is focussed on a particular point, be it what it may, his attention is concentrated on that point and the external world disappears from his vision. The vision of truth reveals itself at that moment and destroys ignorance together with its effect on the machinery of karma. This shows that knowledge of Truth alone is capable of destroying karma together with all its implications. This statement in the Kathasaritsagara is at par with Patanjali's yoga system which holds practically the same view on the question of karma.
The following passages in the Kathasaritsagara when read together will show that the work reveals a belief in prior karma for a good result in the present life.2 It also shows out of these, Lambaka No. VII shows that people believed that it is due to good karma in a prior life that one finds handsome results in the present life.3
The following passage in Kadambari shows that the result of previous karma have to be experienced in the present life
1. Kathasaritsagara, 6th Lambaka,
2. Kathasaritsagara, VII.155, VII. 114-135
3. Kathasaritsigara. VII. Story of Virupasarma. Brahmani, Story of Tarunachandra Vaidya and King Ajara.
