Syamasundara Prabhu (from his paper for GBC on Jyotish)

FATE, FREE WILL AND THE LAW OF KARMA
 
In the following section we will examine what the Sastras have to 
say about karma; and in what way if any, a devotee is under the 
influence of his past karma. 
 
In the ancient Mediterranean world there was a long standing 
philosophical battle between Fatalists and proponents of Freewill.  
It would be inappropriate to discuss their viewpoints, but suffice it 
to say that such a controversy clearly indicates an imperfect 
understanding of the law of karma. 
 
Life is essentially an interplay of both fate and freewill where our 
fate is simply the reaction to our previous exercise of freewill. At 
every point in time we find ourselves in different environments 
which present different options for us to choose from. We have the 
freedom to choose "a"or "b," but once we have made the choice, 
we don't have the freedom to accept or reject the reactions to our 
choice. We have to accept! The reaction may be instantaneous or it 
may take many lifetimes before it fructifies. And like the process 
of cooking where many discrete flavors blend together to create a 
new flavor, in the same way different reactions will blend together 
and when they are fully ripe, we experience them in the form of 
some environment which may be good or bad. We can't escape the 
environment, but while experiencing the environment, we will 
again be presented with different options from which to choose. 
This of course brings us full circle. 
 
The word karma is derived etymologically in Sanskrit from the 
root word Kri, "to create, to make." Thus karma relates both to 
action and the fruits or results of our actions. The Bhagavad Gita 
8:3, gives a concise definition of karma: "The Supreme Personality 
of Godhead said: The indestructible, transcendental living entity is 
called Brahman, and his eternal nature is called adhyatma, the self. 
Action pertaining to the material bodies of the living entities is 
called karma, or fruitive activities." 
 
We are all familiar with the classification of good karma, bad 
karma [vikarma], and naiskarma or akarma [non-action, devotional 
service]. But from the Vedic literature many details are supplied 
that most of us are ignorant of. The following information on 
karma is paraphrased from the Govinda Bhaysa of Baladeva Vidya 
Bhusana .  
 
Karma is divided up into two categories; Sanchita karma (stored 
up), and Kriyamana  karma (newly created); Sanchita  karma is 
further sub-divided into another two categories namely Anarabdha 
karma (effects which have not yet begun) and Prarabdha karma 
(functional karma which is already acting). It is questioned 
whether or not these two karmas (Sanchita & Kriyamana) are 
destroyed and made non-adhering respectively, through the 
majesty of the Divine Wisdom. The Purvapakshin (anti-thesis) 
objects that neither the Kriyamana karma can be loosened, nor the 
Sanchita karma burned up by Vidya because it is well known that: 
"The karma is never exhausted or weakened in its force even after 
a lapse of hundreds of millions of eons. It is exhausted only when 
its consequences are suffered. Verily one must suffer the 
consequences of his acts, whether they be good or bad." [no source 
given] 
 
The Vedanta Sutra 4.1.13 refutes this view: 
"On obtaining that [Vidya] there take place the non-clinging of 
works done in the present life, and the destruction of works stored 
up which were done in the past life. Because this is so declared [in 
the Upanishads]." 
 
When a nirapeksa devotee (totally detached mahabhagavata) gets 
Brahma Vidya (God realization) then his Kriyamana karmas can 
not cling to him for the Chandogya Upanishad 4.14.3 says: 
"As water doesn't cling to a lotus leaf, so no sinful act clings to one 
who knows Him thus!"  


 
And Chandogya Up. 5.24.3 says: 
"As the tuft of the Isika reed entering into the fire is quickly 
reduced to ashes, thus indeed are burnt all his sins, who knowing 
the Lord, thus offers an Agnihotra." 
 
The doubt then arises as to whether it is only the sinful reactions 
that are destroyed but not the pious reactions, because the pious 
acts are done in accordance with scripture. Thus it is not correct 
that as soon as Vidya originates a man gets Mukti. For, if he has 
un-exhausted good works; he must go to Svarga, etc. 
 
The siddhanta sets aside this view in the next sutra  
VS 4.1.14: 
"The same is the case with the other [namely, the good deeds]; the 
stored-up good deeds are destroyed and the good done in the 
present life do not cling to the man. He verily gets Mukti on the 
falling off of his Prarabdha karmas." 
 
Baladeva comments that Vidya destroys reactions to good works 
also. No doubt, good deeds are done in conformity with the laws 
of the Vedas; but it can not be said that, therefore, they are not in 
conflict with Vidya. They are opposed to Vidya, in this much that 
their result is to produce heavenly joy and Svargic bliss; while the 
fruit of Vidya is release; and as Svarga and Mukti can't co-exist 
together; therefore Punya, though Vaidic, is opposed to Vidya. He 
further goes on to say that from a Vedantic point of view even 
Punya is Papam. And that in the Chandogya Upanishad 8.4.1 the 
word Papam is applied to both Duskritam and Sukritam: 
"This Self is a Bridge (refuge) and a support, so that these worlds 
(may be kept in their proper place and) may not clash with each 
other. Night and day do not pass that Bridge, nor do old age, nor 
death, nor grief, nor the good deeds, nor the evil deeds (of men). 
All evils turn back from Him, because He is free from all evils. He 
is Brahman, the Great Refuge." 
 
Also Brhad Aranyaka Up. 4.4.22, says: 
"Him (who knows), these two do not overcome, whether he says 
that for some reason he has done evil, or for some reason he has 
done good, he overcomes both, and neither what he has done, nor 
what he has omitted to do, burns (affects) him."  
 
Consequently in the Gita it is stated that all action, whether good 
or bad, are destroyed when knowledge is obtained. "As a blazing 
fire turns wood into ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge 
burn to ashes all reactions to material activities." BG 4.37.  
 
The word Sarvakarmani is generic and refers to  good deeds also. 
Thus it is established that both kinds of Punyam as well as both 
kinds of Papam are  respectively destroyed and made unclinging 
by Vidya. And, with the destruction of the Prarabdha karmas, the 
man gets Mukti. Therefore it is not a meaningless statement to say 
that on the origination of Vidya a man gets Mukti. 
 
Now we come up to a very important point in the discussion of 
karma and its destruction by the action of Vidya, the Divine 
Wisdom. Since Vidya destroys both sorts of Sanchita karmas 
namely good and bad; then it must reasonably follow that the body 
of the man should fall from him, because the body is the effect of 
such karmas; and when the karmas are destroyed, the body 
naturally falls off. If this be so, then anyone who gets divine 
knowledge, must immediately pass out of this world, and so the 
teaching of the Divine knowledge by the knowers of Brahman 
becomes an impossibility.  
 
As we mentioned before the Sanchita karma has two sub-
categories: Prarabdha and Anarabdha; one which has commenced 
its fruition in this world, and the other which has not. The doubt is 
then raised as to whether both of these kinds of Sanchita karma are 
destroyed by Vidya, or only the Anarabdha karmas? 
 
The Purvapaksin maintains that in the Br. Ar. Up. 4.4.22 already 
quoted above it is said that both these are destroyed. No exception 
is mentioned in regards to the Prarabdha karma; and because the 
action of Vidya is uniform, therefore both sorts of Sanchita, 
mature as well as immature, are destroyed by Vidya. The 
siddhanta is established in the next sutra of VS which sets the 
erroneous view of the Purvapaksin aside. 
 
VS 4.1.15:" But only the immature karmas of the former lives, 
namely, those karmas whose effect has not yet begun, are 
destroyed by knowledge; because that is the limit of the life of the 
Jnanin; (namely) the limit of the life of the wise is the period over 
which his former karmas which have begun to produce their 
effects extend." 
 
It is said in the sruti that a man lives on even after acquiring 
Vidya, if his Prarabdha karmas are not exhausted. The Chandogya 
Upanishad 6.14.2 says: "For him there is a delay only for as long 
as he is not delivered from his body." Also in SB 10.87.40 it is 
said: 
"When a person realizes You, he no longer cares about his good 
and bad fortune arising from past pious and sinful acts, since it is 
You alone who control this good and bad fortune..." 
 
This shows that it is the will of the Lord, that the man who has 
obtained the Divine Wisdom, should go on living in this body, so 
long as his Prarabdha karmas are not exhausted. Vidya is 
supremely powerful and can destroy all karmas but out of 
deference to the will of Sri Krsna she doesn't destroy the 
Prarabdha karma for we see that divinely illumined sages, full 
masters of Divine Wisdom, are living on this earth and their bodies 
do not fall down as soon as they get Vidya. We further see that 
they teach others and are not inactive, consequently, we must 
admit that it is the will of the Lord that such men should continue 
to live, in order to spread knowledge of Brahma Vidya among 
mankind. 
 
It should be noted that it may take more than one life to exhaust 
the Prarabdha karma, even in the case of a Nirapeksha devotee. 
This is dealt with in VS 3.4.52: 
"Similar is the case with the Mukti. There is no invariable rule of 
the time of its fruition, because it depends upon well ascertained 
conditions, because it depends upon well ascertained 
conditions."  
 
Moksa which is the characteristic fruit of Vidya may be delayed 
till the next life if Prarabdha karmas remain that must be worked 
out. If there are no Prarabdha karmas to be worked out, then Mukti 
takes place in that very life. But if there are Prarabdha karmas 
which are not exhausted in one life, then the man must take 
another birth to get Mukti; for Mukti can never be partial. Why do 
we say so? Because the condition of Mukti is a definite condition, 
fully ascertained in the Sastras. Thus in the Chandogya Up 6.14.2, 
it is laid down that a man who finds a guru obtains the knowledge; 
but there is delay in his getting Mukti so long as his Prarabdha 
karmas are not exhausted:  
"In the same way does a man who finds the Guru, obtains the 
knowledge. For him there is delay only so long as his Prarabdha 
karmas are not exhausted. Then he reaches the perfect." 
 
This Chandogya text shows a well determined rule of Mukti that 
the man who has Vidya, obtains Mukti, not immediately, but on 
the exhaustion of his Prarabdha karmas. There is a similar rule laid 
down in the Smriti Sastra call Narayana Adhyatma: 
"The man who has acquired Vidya gets immortality. There is no 
doubt in it. He goes to Mukti at once when his Prarabdha karmas 
are exhausted; but if his karmas are not exhausted, then he has to 
take many births, and on the exhaustion of such karma he goes to 
the world of Hari." 
 
No doubt it is a rule that Vidya exhausts all karmas, yet the force 
of Prarabdha karma is not exhausted and remains active because 
the Lord has so willed it. What, however, is the state of 
consciousness of a Mahabhagavata, and how is his experience of 
Prarabdha karma different from mine?  In Bhagavad Gita 6.20-23 
Krsna gives the following description of spiritual absorption: 
 
"In the stage of perfection called trance, or samadhi, one's mind is 
completely restrained from the material activities by practice of 
yoga. This perfection is characterized by one's ability to see the 
self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. In that 
joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness, 
realized through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never 
departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no 
greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, 
even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual 
freedom from all miseries arising from material contact." 
 
Here we see the condition of a jivanmukta, one who is liberated 
while still embodied. Though he is encased in the gross and subtle 
body which is the product and enjoyer of Prarabdha karma still he 
doesn't suffer because he is experiencing spiritual ecstasy. He is 
free. It is the gross and subtle body that suffers and enjoys the 
karmas. So ultimately he is not subjected to karma, but is free. 
 
There are many examples from Sastra of great devotees who were 
beyond the body and lived on another dimension. Lord Caitanya 
would fall into a divine swoon and be transported to Vraja to 
witness the sporting activities of the Gopis with Krsna. 
Meanwhile, in the external world His associates would be trying 
their best to bring Him back; when they succeeded He was often 
displeased. In the life of Syamananda we have another vivid 
example. When Syamananda was being examined by his Guru, 
Hrdaya-Caitanya, about the change of his name from Dhuki Krsna 
to Syamanada, and his new tilak, Syamananda went into 
meditation and in his siddhaswarupa approached Radharani to 
resolve his problem. Another example is that of Haridasa Thakura 
whose body was beaten, yet because he was not on the bodily 
platform, he remained unaffected.  
 
Our Srila Prabhupada was also on such a platform. Hari Sauri 
Prabhu informs me that once while he was serving Srila 
Prabhupada he noticed that Srila Prabhupada's jaw was swollen 
because of a toothache, yet Prabhupada didn't complain. A few 
days later Hari Sauri noticed that the swelling was reduced and 
inquired from Prabhupada if his toothache was gone. Prabhupada 
replied that in the night a tooth had fallen out. On searching 
Prabhupada's bed he found the tooth and was amazed to see that it 
had a huge hole in it. Anyone else with such a rotted tooth would 
have been in extreme agony, yet Prabhupada was unphased. 
 
What is the mechanism that allows a Mahabhagavata to be encased 
in a body yet be unaware of it. This is explained in the Srimad 
Bhagavatam, 3.28.34-39: 
 
"	'By following this course, the yogi gradually develops pure 
love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari. In the course 
of his progress in devotional service, the hairs of his body stand 
erect through excessive joy, and he is constantly bathed in a stream 
of tears occasioned by intense love. Gradually, even the mind, 
which he used as a means to attract the Lord, as one attracts a fish 
to a hook, withdraws from material activity.' 
 
	'When the mind is thus completely freed from all material 
contamination and detached from material objectives, it is just like 
the flame of a lamp. At that time the mind is actually dovetailed 
with that of the Supreme Lord and is experienced as one with Him 
because it is freed from the interactive flow of the material 
qualities.' 
 
	'Thus situated in the highest transcendental stage, the mind 
ceases from all material reaction and becomes situated in its own 
glory, transcendental to all material conceptions of happiness and 
distress. At that time the yogi realizes the truth of his relationship 
with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He discovers that 
pleasure and pain as well as their interactions, which he attributed 
to his own self, are actually due to the false ego, which is a product 
of ignorance.' 
 
	'Because he has achieved his real identity, the perfectly 
realized soul has no conception of how the material body is 
moving or acting, just as an intoxicated person cannot understand 
whether or not he has clothing on his body.	The body of such a 
liberated yogi, along with the senses, is taken charge of by the 
Supreme Personality of Godhead, and it functions until its destined 
activities are finished . The liberated devotee, being awake to his 
constitutional position and thus situated in samadhi, the highest 
perfectional stage of yoga, does not accept the by-products of the 
material body as his own. Thus he considers his bodily activities to 
be like the activities of a body in a dream.' 
 
Purport to 3.28.38 
 
 The following questions may be posed. As long as a the liberated 
soul is in contact with the body, why don't the bodily activities 
affect him? Doesn't he actually become contaminated by the action 
and reaction of material activities? In answer to such questions, 
this verse explains that the material body of a liberated soul is 
taken charge of by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is not 
acting due to the living force of the living entity; it is simply acting 
as a reaction to past activities. Even after being switched off, an 
electic fan moves for some time. That movement is not due to the 
electric current, but is a continuation of the last movement; 
similarly, although a liberated soul appears to be acting just like an 
ordinary man, his actions are to be accepted as the continuation of 
past activities. In a dream one may see himself expanded through 
many bodies, but when awake he can understand that those bodies 
were all false. Similarly, although a liberated soul has the by-
products of the body--wife, children, house, etc.--he does not 
identify himself with those bodily expansions. He knows that they 
are all products of the material dream. The gross body is made up 
of the gross elements of matter, and the subtle body is made of 
mind, intelligence, ego and contaminated consciousness. If one 
can accept the subtle body of a dream as false and not identify 
oneself with that body, then certainly an awake person need not 
identify with the gross body. As one who is awake has no 
connection with the activities of the body in a dream, an 
awakened, liberated soul has no connection with the activities of 
the present body. In other words, because he is aquainted with his 
constitutional position, he never accepts the bodily concept of life.' 
 
 
Text 39	'Because of great affection for family and wealth, one 
accepts a son and some money as his own, and due to affection for 
the material body, one thinks that it is his. But actually, as one can 
understand that his family and wealth are different from him, the 
liberated soul can understand that he and his body are not the 
same.'" 


 
There are two similar verses in the 11th canto. 
 
"Just as a drunken man does not notice if he is wearing his coat or 
shirt, similarly, one who is perfect in self-realization and who has 
thus achieved his eternal identity does not notice whether the 
temporary body is sitting or standing. Indeed, if by God's will the 
body is finished or if by God's will he obtains a new body, a self-
realized soul does not notice, just as a drunken man doe not notice 
the situation of his outward dress. The material body certainly 
moves under the control of supreme destiny and therefore must 
continue to live along with the senses and vital air as long as one's 
karma is in effect. A self-realized soul, however, who is awakened 
to the absolute reality and who is thus highly situated in the perfect 
stage of yoga, will never again surrender to the material body and 
its manifold manifestations, knowing it to be just like a body 
visualized in a dream." SB 11.13.36-37 
 
Here we see that the perfect God intoxicated yogi is un-aware of 
whether or not he is wearing a body! Just like a liquor intoxicated 
man is unaware of whether or not he is wearing clothing. In such a 
perfectly detached mood Krsna takes charge of the body's 
functions "until its destined activities are finished" and "as long as 
one's karma is in effect." These statements of course further 
explain and verify what the Vedanta Sutra says about Prarabdha 
karma. 
 
In his comment on VS 3.4.16, Baladeva Vidya Bhusan gives us 
more insight into the position of a sage who has acquired Vidya 
but not Mukti. He says that Vidya has the power to burn to ashes 
all karmas, yet the illumined sage, who is harmonized with the will 
of the Supreme Lord, allows the Prarabdha karmas to continue to 
produce their effects, in order to carry out the will of the Lord, and 
to spread His glory in this world. The sage allows the Vidya to
singe the Prarabdha karmas, but not to reduce them to ashes. The 
Prarabdha karmas of such a sage are like a half-burnt cloth, which 
retains its texture, and looks like a cloth; but which at the slightest 
touch, falls into pieces. The wise sage is dressed in such a 
Prarabdha karma, and carries on the activities generated by such 
karma. 
 
Baladeva further opines about a nirapeksa thus. "But the great 
difference in his life before the origination of Vidya and in his life 
after the origination of such Vidya consists of this; that before 
such origination, he feels the good and bad effect of his karmas, 
but after the origination of such Vidya his center of consciousness 
being fixed on the Lord, he is so much absorbed in the Lord, that 
he never perceives the effects of these karmas." 
 
For the sake of completion I want to mention in brief one more 
thing about Prarabdha karma as it is discused in the wonderful 
Vedanta Sutra commentary, Govinda Bhasya. The topic is 
Vicarious Atonement. Apparently in different Shakhas 
(rescensions) of the Vedas, namely the Kausitakins and 
Satyayanins, there it is mentioned that in the case of extremely 
ardent lovers of Sri Krsna, vicarious atonement takes place. This 
means that the Prarabdha karmas of these Nirapeksas are divided 
into papam, and punyam, and that the papa-karma, evil karma, is 
given to his enemies to suffer, and the punya-karma, good karma, 
is given to his friends to enjoy. Thus the Prarabdha karma is still 
worked out, but vicariously, and the body of the nirapeksa falls 
down and he goes back to Godhead. 
 
What, however, is the situation of less advanced devotees? 
Sometimes we hear that Sri Krsna minimizes our karma; instead of 
having our hand cut off we supposedly get a small cut as token 
punishment. This actually is just the humble attitude of the 
devotee, he knows that he has been greatly sinful and deserves 
equally great chastisement. Yet, because the devotee sees all the 
actions of Krsna as being mercy he thinks that he is not being 
chastised as much as he deserves. This is exemplified in the 
history of the Avanti Brahman SB 11.23 who simply tolerated his 
Prarabdha karma as the mercy of Sri Krsna. Lord Brahma has 
summarized the situation in the famous verse SB 10.14.8: 
tat te'nukampam su-samiksamano 
bhunjana evatma-krtam vipakam 
hrd-vag-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te 
jiveta yo mukti-pade sa daya-bhak 
 
"My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your 
causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the 
reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful 
obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for 
liberation, for it has become his rightful claim." 
 
It should be obvious from the previous discussions that the more 
we are able to absorb ourselves in the process of devotional 
service, specifically chanting the maha-mantra, the more we are 
able to exist on the spiritual platform and become unconcerned 
with the effects of our Prarabdha karma. That is why it is 
sometimes stated in certain scriptures like Sri Harinama Cintamani 
or the Nrsimha-kavaca that namabhasa averts malefic planetary 
influences, demons, etc. 
 
In conclusion the Sastras all declare that even the most perfect 
Mahabhagavata devotee must experience his karma until the body 
falls off, what to speak of less advanced devotees. But, in the case 
of Mahabhagavatas, because they are not on the bodily platform, 
ultimately they are not affected. Others are more or less affected 
according to their degree of realization. That is why it is said in the 
eleventh canto that in this material world the only happy persons 
are the perfected sadhus and the fools; everyone else is miserable. 
 
An objection may be raised that Srila Prabhupada supposedly 
stated  that simply by clapping in front of the deities the lines in 
your hands change, implying that a devotee is immune to such 
things as astrology, palmistry, etc. The question must then be 
answered by such objector: Did personalities like Jayatirtha Dasa, 
Bhagavan Dasa, Ramesvara Dasa, Bhavananda Dasa, etc., etc., not 
clap hard enough? After studying the conclusions of the sastras we 
see that indeed the lines change by clapping in front of the deities. 
This change in the lines indicates a different future for the devotee 
because by worshipping the Lord, all karmas, save and except 
Prarabdha karma, as noted above, get eradicated. 
 
There is another similar objection raised: "Devotees are immune 
from astrology, because astrology only deals with karma; and 
since devotees are immune to karma, they therefore are immune to 
astrology." This objection contains three fallacies: The first is the 
assumption that astrology is a causal agent from which you can be 
granted immunity; that was disproved in the section on What is 
Astrology. The second, that astrology only deals with karma; this 
was also disposed of in the same section for we see that as a 
language it can describe any phenomena including the Divine 
Godhead. Thirdly, that devotees are immune to karma; this has 
been dealt with in great detail above.  
