The following article: i) extends the categores of Karma posted by Vaj a bit ago (from deFouw and Svoboda), ii) clarifies (perhaps) the prior discussion of videha-mukti and death, and ii) addresses the perenial question on FFL of why some gyani's act in non-gyani fashion (as conceptualized by non-gyanis).
-------------------------- http://www.mudgala.com/articles/gyani_actions.html In this day and age, when it is normal practice to evaluate not only students, but even professors and our peers (peer-review), we find ourselve in the business of judging those we take to be gyanis. Often, we find them doing things that are not "gyani-like". Of course, we define what a gyani should be like as we wish, without regards to shastra. In particular, we all know that gyanis are beyond likes and dislikes. Yet, we sometimes feel that they act like the common man. They seem to get angry, or feel sad. How do we explain this? We need to understand the nature of karma. Karma There are three kinds of karma: 1. Prarabdha - Action from past births that have led to the current birth. These karmas are only exhausted when the doer experiences them. 2. Sanchita - Action from past births which are set to fructify in future births. If we take another birth, these karmas will fructify. For gyanis, who will not take another birth, these karmas have no effect. 3. Aagaami - The karmas performed after one becomes a gyani. These are not reaped by the gyani, but by mankind in general. Thus, when we say that a swami is performing good for mankind, this is exactly true. In Tattwa-bodha, we are told that a gyani's good karmas go to his well-wishers, and bad karmas go to his ill-wishers. Thus, two of the three kinds of karma, aagaami & sanchita karma have no effect on the gyani. This is because the aagaami karma is experienced by mankind, and sanchita karma has no opportunity to fructify since the gyani does not take another birth. Thus, after the dawn of knowledge, a gyani continues to interact with the world so long as prarabdha karma remains. Prarabdha Karma and Gyanis The nature of prarabdha karma is brought up by Shankaracharya in his Vivekachudamani: Like an arrow released towards its target, the karma begun before the dawn of knowledge (prarabdha) is not destroyed by gyana. 454. Now, we can understand the following verses from the famed Panchadashi. Once he is convinced of the unreality of the world, a knower, with mind undisturbed, allows his prarabdha karma to wear out, and engages himself in worldly affairs accordingly. 7-131. Do not fear irregularity when the wise engage themselves in actions according to their Karma. Even if it happens, let it be; who can prevent the karma? 7-132. In the experience of their prarabdha karma, the enlightened and the unenlightened alike have no choice; but the knower is patient and undisturbed, whereas an ignorant man is impatient and suffers pain and grief. 7-133 If by the force of his prarabdha karma, a wise man is compelled to enjoy the fruits of desires, he does so with indifference and great reluctance like a man who is impressed for labour. 7-143. Once the prarabdha karma is exhausted, the seer either attains videha-mukti (i.e. death), or, he is in constant one-ness with the paramatma. Thus, prarabdha karma is a great blessing to the world, as the world can benefit when the gyani interacts with it. If prarabdha karma were burned up in the fire of gyana, the only medium of teaching from these great masters would be pure silence. Types of Gyanis Thus, it is also possible to grade gyanis based on the amount of interaction with the world. Those with larger interaction with the world have a larger reservoir of this karma to exhaust. Swami Chandrashekara Bharati brings this out beautifully (VC 459). They are graded, in ascending order of superiority: 1. One who has adopted sannyasa for the fruition of his gyana, and abides in sattwa guna. He is a brahmavit. 2. One who gets out of his samadhi of his own volition, by the force of his own karma. Happiness and sadness pertain to him. He is a brahmavidarah. 3. One who is responsive when awakened by others. When awake, he is connected with the prarabdha karma. He is a brahmavidariyan. 4. One who has reached the transcendant, and is unresponsive even when awakened by others. His prarabdha karma is exhausted, and thus, has no effect on him. He is a brahmavidvarishthah. Madhusudana Saraswati says that a tattva-gyani (knower of the truth) may not be a jivan-mukta (liberated while living). The yogi of the highest order is one who is both a tattva-gyani and a jivan-mukta. However, he also clarifies, that there is absolutely no doubt that both classes of gyanis will reach videha-kaivalya. i.e. liberation upon the falling of the body. (BG 6.36) Gyanis and Prarabdha Karma What is the nature of the gyanis interaction with the world when prarabdha karma is in play? Swami Vidyaranya quotes the Gita in the Panchadashi: O Arjuna, your own karma, produced by your own nature, compels you to do things, even though you may not want to do them. B.G 18.60 The Ashtavakra Gita gives us a perfect example: Like a dry leaf blown about by the winds of prarabdha karma from previous lives, the desireless, independant, free, liberated person moves about. The gyani is compelled to interact with the world, as is his nature formed over a multitude of previous births, without attachment to them. Since they have no effect on the gyani, and since there is no doer-ship attached to it, there is no fault in this. The illusion of action After all, it is us (the ignorant) who superimpose action on the gyani. In reality, the gyani does nothing, so there is nothing for us to judge. He ... does nothing, even if he be acting vigorously in the eyes of the world. AG 19.19 It may be difficult for us to see inaction in the multitude around us, but thankfully, we have an entire vedanta tradition designed to take us there. All of us strive to become yogis of one kind or another, and as the Gita puts it: He who recognizes inaction in action, and action in inaction is a yogi. BG 4.18. Conclusion The gyanis move about in accordance to their prarabdha karma. Let us stop judging them. Let us learn from them actively, so that we may develop our own sanchita karma. Let us praise them, so that we may benefit from their positive agami karmas. Sources * [AB] Swami Tejomayananda. Atma Bodha. * [AG] Ashtavakra Gita * [BG] Swami Madhusudana Saraswati. Bhagavad Gita. trans. Swami Gambhirananda. * [PA] Swami Vidyaranya. Panchadashi. trans. Swami Swahananda. * [VC] Swami Chandrashekara Bharati. Viveka Chudamani. trans. P. Sankaranarayanan. ---------------------------------- Per this framwork, if a gyani had some odd sexual and business karma, the unfoldment of such could look bizzare to onlookers. But it is not volitional nor stemming from unresolved vasanas needs). its "taking it (Prarabdha karma) as it comes." Further, if a guru takes on students with odd Prarabdha karma, the teacher might construct what appear to be quite odd exercises for the students to pursue, to accelerate the burning up of Prarabdha karma which is non-conducive for the transmission of knowledge -- enabling the students to be more pure teachers -- and maximizing the generation of benificial Aagaami karma for the benefit of mankind. MMY appears to be a brahmavidariyan, one who is responsive when awakened by others. Thus he is connected with the prarabdha karma. Due to his apparent rapid attainmet of gyani from the blessing of Guru Dev, it is POSSIBLE that he has / had remaining substantial amounts of worldly prarabdha karma - including sexual, and this has unfolded "in front of him". To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
