Effective Kamma (Dittha-dhamma-veda-niya-kamma)
1. The Meaning of Effective Kamma
Effective Kamma means Kamma which gives its consequences now or in the current lifetime. Once performed, this type of Kamma gives its consequences quickly. The effect is immediate.
2. Characteristics of Effective Kamma
Effective Kamma can be compared to a hunter who kills a deer with an arrow. If he hits the target then he would have venison for his family but if he misses, the deer would run for its life. In the same manner if an individual's unwholesome or wholesome deed which has been performed in the current lifetime does not give its consequences now, it will turn into Defunct Kamma and will never give its consequences ever again.
In performing a deed through the body, the words, the thoughts, wholesome or unwholesome, there is a period during which there is full perception and at which Kamma is performed. This process of consciousness usually lasts for countless number of seven thought-moments. This process is called 'Javana-cita.' Effective Kamma occurs during the first thought-moment or the first 'Javana-cita.'
Therefore, Effective Kamma can only give its consequences within the current lifetime because the wholesome or unwholesome intention is confined to the first 'Javana-cita.' Therefore, it has a very weak effect. There are two types of Effective Kamma, as follows:
1) Pari-pakka-dittha-dhamma-veda-niya-kamma:
Not only will it give its consequences within this lifetime but within seven days. There is unwholesome and wholesome Pari-pakka-dittha-dhamma-veda-niya-kamma, as follows:
Unwholesome Pari-pakka-dittha- dhamma-veda-niya-kamma
It will cause its performer to suffer the ill consequences of the misdeed within seven days as of the case in the Tripitaka.
'King Supapa-buddha-sakaya'
King Supapa-buddha-sakaya was the sovereign of the city of Deva-daha and was the father of Phra Devadat and Princess Yasodhara. King Supapa-buddha-sakaya was angry with the Lord Buddha for two reasons: One for having abandoned Princess Yasodhara; two for not allowing Phra Devadat to have his way. One day he decided to block the Lord Buddha's path during His alms-round by sitting down to drink alcohol in His path. Many people tried to dissuade the king from doing it, but he did not listen to anyone. The Lord Buddha decided to turn back when He saw the path being blocked by the king.
After this incident, the Lord Buddha told Phra Ananda that King Supapa-buddha-sakaya had committed a grave misdeed and within seven days he would be swallowed up by the ground near the staircase outside his own castle. When the king's spy relayed the Lord Buddha's words to him, he fled to the seventh floor of the castle and told his pages to guard the staircase and prevent him from coming down the stairs for the entire seven days. He wanted to prove the Lord Buddha wrong.
On the seventh day the king's auspicious horse started to act up for no apparent reasons but as soon as it saw the king's face at the window, it calmed down. The king wanted to catch the horse so he descended to the main floor of the castle. The castle door opened by itself and the pages tried to restrain just emerged from the bliss of deep meditation and desired to bless a poor person. He saw Kala-valiya's wife in his nana (Insight) and subsequently went to stand at the door of their house. The woman felt a deep devotion toward the senior monk and respectfully made an offering of the rice and pickled vegetables to him. She was so delighted with her alms-giving and went to tell her husband about it.
When Kala-valiya heard about his wife's merit-making, he sincerely rejoiced in his wife's action. Later, Phra Maha-kassapa offered the food to the Lord Buddha. The Lord Buddha in turn gave the food to other monks. Kala-valiya followed the senior monk to the temple and was there in time to eat some of the leftovers. Afterward, the senior monk asked the Lord Buddha about the consequences of Kala-valiya's action. The Lord Buddha said that within seven days, Kala-valiya would be honored by the king as a millionaire. The Lord Buddha's words filled Kala-valiya with great delight. And indeed what the Lord Buddha said did come to pass. It so happened that Kala-valiya's wife had volunteered to do a service for the king. She agreed to bring food for the prisoners that had been pierced with sharp stakes and put on display. They were left to die slowly and horribly in the grounds of the corpse-yard which was filled with non-humans.
On her way to the corpse-yard, an ogre appeared and asked her to make an announcement for him. The announcement had to do with the fact that the ogre's wife, who was the daughter of the ogre 'Sumana,' had just given birth to a male ogre. When 'Sumana' heard the announcement, it made him so happy that he gave her the treasure hidden beneath the banyan tree. After having fed the poor prisoners, she returned to the city and told the king about what happened. King Bimbisara commanded the royal of ficials to unearth the hidden treasure. As a result, both husband and wife were honored by theื king as the city's millionaire. And their new name was 'Thana.' They enjoyed a life of ease and comfort for the rest of their lives.
Their wholesome Pari-pakka-dittha-dhamma-veda-niya-kamma caused Kala-valiya and his wife to become a millionaire practically overnight. Pari-pakka-dittha-dhamma-veda-niya-kamma is a very powerful Kamma which gives its consequences within seven days.
2) Apari-pakka-dittha-dhamma-veda-niya-kamma:
This type of Kamma gives its consequences within this lifetime but later than seven days after it is performed. The different timeframes in which this type of Kamma gives its consequences are as follows:
1. If unwholesome or wholesome Apari-pakka-dittha-dhamma-veda-niya-kamma is performed when the individual is young, he/she may receive its consequences as a young adult, as a middle-age person, or as an old person.
2. If unwholesome or wholesome Apari-pakka-dittha-dhamma-veda-niya-kamma is performed when the individual is in his/her middle age, he/she may receive its consequences in his/her middle years or final years.
3. If unwholesome or wholesome Apari-pakka-dittha-dhamma-veda-niya-kamma is performed when the individual is in his/her final years, he/she will receive its consequences in his/her final years.
The following case is recorded in the Tripitaka which gives a better appreciation of the timeframes in which this type of Kamma gives its consequences.
The Immediate Consequences of a Man Who Was Very Fond of Meat
During the time of our Lord Buddha, there was a man who earned his living as a butcher. He slaughtered animals daily and prepared their meat for sale. He would keep the lean meat for his and his family's consumption. He butchered animals for a living for 45 years. Throughout his life, he had never once thought about giving alms, observing the Precepts or practicing meditation in spite of the fact that the Lord Buddha was staying in the Veluvana Temple not far from his house. The Lord Buddha and the Buddhist monks walk by his shop on a regular basis, but he never once wanted to listen to a Dhamma lecture or even paid homage to the Lord Buddha and the monks.
This man would only eat the meat that he butchered. One day all the meat was sold out except for the piece of meat which he had given to his wife to cook for him. While he was taking a bath, a close friend of his came to buy some meat. His wife told the friend that all the meat had been sold except for the piece that she was about to cook for her husband. The friend insisted on buying this last piece of meat and paid her for it.
After the butcher had bathed, he found out from his wife that his friend had already bought the meat she was about to cook for him. In great exasperation, exacerbated no doubt by his hunger, the butcher took his knife and went to the back of the house where a cow had been tied to a post. He pulled out the cow's tongue and cut it with his knife. He then gave the bloody tongue to his wife to cook for him. The poor cow cried out in agony and as the wound continued to bleed profusely, it eventually bled to death.
After his wife cooked the tongue, he sat down to eat. He had only taken a few bites when all of a sudden his own tongue fell out of his mouth and onto the plate. Blood spurted from his mouth. He opened his mouth and cried out loudly. He crawled around the house until the floor was wet with his saliva and blood. He was in pure agony. He eventually bled to death in front of his wife and children.
Effective Kamma will give its consequences within this lifetime providing that this type of Kamma meets one of the following four criteria:
1. When one Effective Kamma is not opposed by another Effective Kamma. That is when one wholesome Effective Kamma is not counteracted by a corresponding unwholesome Effective Kamma. If opposing Effective Kamma occurs then it will cancel each other out and become Defunct Kamma.
2. When Effective Kamma is particularly powerful because it is supported by four types of Vipatti and four types of Sampatti. Wholesome Effective Kamma consists of the four types of Sampatti whereas unwholesome Effective Kamma consists of the four types of Vipatti.
