Ātmavidyā breaks the Karmic Cycle — Sohamvidya proposes SRIRAM Path

Part of the upcoming book "Bring out the best in you: The Sanatana Dharma way" by Dr. Malladi Srinivasa Sastry

Human life appears complex, yet at its core it follows a simple, repeating pattern. Scriptures, psychology, and lived experience all converge on this truth: we move from experience to reaction, from reaction to habit, and from habit to destiny. The sages of India named this endless repetition saṁsāra. At a practical level, this cycle can be understood as: Situation → Response → Impression → Rebirth (SRIR)

Figure 1: Situation – Response – Impression- Rebirth (SRIR)

Unless something fundamental changes, this sequence repeats itself across moments, years, and even lifetimes.

The Cycle of Bondage

Every experience we encounter presents itself as a situation. Situations arise not randomly, but as the fruition of past actions—what the scriptures call prārabdha karma. Pleasant or painful, welcome or unwanted, situations are the field in which life unfolds. In each situation, we instinctively offer a response. This response is rarely neutral. It is coloured by emotion, thought, memory, and ego.

The Bhagavad Gītā explains that while actions are performed by the guṇas of nature, the deluded mind claims authorship: “Actions are performed by the mind-body-senses, called the non-self, manifested by the guṇas of prakṛti but one whose mind is clouded by ego thinks, ‘I am the doer.’” (Gītā 3.27)

When we respond with identification—this is happening to me, I must defend myself, I must gain or avoid—the response leaves behind a subtle residue. This residue is the impression (saṁskāra). Each reaction engraves a faint mark on the mind. Over time, these impressions accumulate, forming tendencies, preferences, fears, and desires. The Gītā shlokas 2.62 and 2.63 describe how repeated engagement with objects and experiences deepens attachment and emotion.

These impressions do not perish with the body. As the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam declares: “Under the supervision of destiny, the living being receives a body according to karma.” (SB 3.31.1)

Thus, impressions compel rebirth, continuing the cycle.

Ravi: A life lived in reaction

Ravi was a sincere and capable man, devoted to his work and responsibilities. One day, he was overlooked for a promotion he believed he deserved. The situation was simple. The response, however, was immediate—anger, jealousy, self-doubt. His thoughts spiralled: “I was wronged. I am undervalued.” His emotions fuelled harsh words and sleepless nights.

Though the moment passed, something invisible yet powerful remained behind—an impression of resentment and insecurity. Months later, in a different context, the same pattern reappeared. A minor criticism triggered disproportionate anger. Each response strengthened the inner groove. Ravi did not intend to bind himself, yet bondage occurred naturally.

This is how karma operates—not as punishment, but as continuity.

The turning point: Ātmavidyā

At some point, Ravi encountered a different way of seeing. Through reflection, inquiry, and study, he was introduced to Ātmavidyā—the knowledge of the Self. He began to question a deeply held assumption: “Am I truly this reacting mind, or am I the one who observes these reactions?”

The Bhagavad Gītā addresses this insight directly:

“Just as the embodied self passes through childhood, youth, and old age, so it passes into another body. The wise are not deluded by this.” (Gītā 2.13)

Ravi began to recognize himself not as the turbulence of thought and emotion, but as the witnessing awareness behind them.

Action without bondage

Sometime later, a similar situation arose. Expectations were again unmet. The situation was familiar, but Ravi’s inner posture had changed.

Emotion arose—but he observed it.


Thought arose—but he did not cling to it.


Action occurred—but without attachment to outcome.

This time, something remarkable happened: no new impression was formed.

The Bhagavad Gītā calls this acting without bondage:

“One who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is wise and free.” (Gītā 4.18)

The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam affirms the consequence of such understanding: “When the Self is realized, the knot of the heart is cut, doubts are destroyed, and karma is exhausted.” (SB 1.2.21)

Life continued. Action continued. But the inner doer dissolved.

Why the cycle ends

Karma does not arise from action alone.
It arises from action bound to identification. When Ātmavidyā dawns, identification loosens. Without identification, responses lose their binding power. Without binding responses, impressions cease. And when impressions cease, rebirth loses its cause. This freedom is Moksha—not an escape from life, but freedom within life.

Figure 2: SRIRAM- The path of Atmavidya:

Situation – Response- Impression – Rebirth – Atmavidya – Moksha

SRIRAM — The complete map

Sohamvidya encapsulates this spiritually transformative journey in the divinely apt acronym SRIRAM. The entire journey from bondage to liberation can be remembered through a single, meaningful flow:

SRIRAM: Situation → Response → Impression → Rebirth → Ātmavidyā → Moksha

•                      SRIR is the wheel of saṁsāra

•                      Ātmavidyā is the knowledge that halts it

•                      Moksha is abidance in one’s true nature

Ravi’s transformation was not extraordinary. It was simply conscious. What happened to him can happen to anyone who turns inward and inquires deeply. The scriptures do not promise a different world.
They promise a different way of being in the same world. That way is SRIRAM.