in this life, the soul begins another existence and in the new environment undergoes suffering for its past deeds". Thus it is important to understand that karma does not go away; one must either reap the benefits or suffer the consequences of his past actions. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states, "According as a man acts and according as he believes so will he be; a man of meritorious acts will be meritorious, a man of evil deeds sinful. He becomes pure by pure deeds and evil by evil deeds. And here they say that person consists of desires. And as is his desire so is his will; and as is his will, so is his deed; and whatever deeds he does that he will reap". The doctrine of karma dates from ancient times and besides the above author is mentioned in the Gautama dharma-sutra, Shatapatha Brahmana, Kathaaka-grey-sutra, Chandogya Upanishad, Markandeya Purana , and many others. The shastras written about karma go into some detail about possible consequences of karma. There is often talk about coming back as a variety of different objects when it comes to reincarnation and pasts lives. In this case, it holds true, or at least insofar as the texts state. The Kathaaka-grhya-sutra states, "some human beings enter the womb in order to have an embodied existence; others go into inorganic matter (the stump of a tree and the like) according to their deeds and according to their knowledge". More extensively discussed is the consequences of karma in relation to sin. "Karmavipaka means the ripening (or fruition) of evil actions or sins. This fruition takes three forms, as stated in the Yogasutra II. 3, i.e., jati (birth as a worm or animal), ayuh (life i.e. living for a short period such as five or ten years) and bhoga (experiencing the torments of Hell". Free will limited by karma According to Swami Mukundananda's interpretation of Gita, Chapter 18, verse 63, he states that "[t]his free will to choose between available alternatives has been given to the soul by God. The freedom of choice is not infinite. One cannot decide, “I choose to be the most intelligent person in the world.” Our choices are limited by our past and present karmas. However, we do possess a certain amount of free will, for we are not machines in the hands of God. Sometimes people question that if God had not given