[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Shankara accepts BhAvarUpa ajnana BSB 4.1.15

[K Kathirasan]

Namaste

The Aparokshanubhuti attributed to Shankara, subscribes to the same position (i.e. no prarabdha for the jivanmukta, but only there for the onlookers), as follows:

utpanne'pyātmavijñāne prārabdhaṃ naiva muñcati ।
iti yacchrūyate śāstre tannirākriyate'dhunā ॥ 90॥
tattvajñānodayādūrdhvaṃ prārabdhaṃ naiva vidyate ।
dehādīnāmasatyatvāt yathā svapnaḥ prabodhataḥ ॥  91॥
karma janmāntarīyaṃ yatprārabdhamiti kīrtitam ।
tattu janmāntarābhāvātpuṃso naivāsti karhicit ॥ 92॥
svapnadeho yathādhyastastathaivāyaṃ hi dehakaḥ ।
adhyastasya kuto janma janmābhāve sthitiḥ kutaḥ ॥ 93॥
upādānaṃ prapañcasya mṛdbhāṇḍasyeva kathyate ।
ajñānaṃ caiva vedāntaistasminnaṣṭe kva viśvatā ॥ 94॥
yathā rajjuṃ parityajya sarpaṃ gṛhṇāti vai bhramāt ।
tadvatsatyamavijñāya jagatpaśyati mūḍhadhīḥ ॥ 95॥
rajjurūpe parijñāte sarpabhrāntirna tiṣṭhati ।
adhiṣṭhāne tathā jñāte prapañcaḥ śūnyatāṃ vrajet ॥ 96॥
dehasyāpi prapañcatvātprārabdhāvasthitiḥ kutaḥ ।
ajñānijanabodhārthaṃ prārabdhaṃ vakti vai śrutiḥ ॥ 97॥
kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi tasmindṛṣṭe parāvare ।
bahutvaṃ tanniṣedhārthaṃ śrutyā gītaṃ ca yatsphuṭam ॥ 98॥
ucyate'jñairbalāccaitattadānarthadvayāgamaḥ ।
vedāntamatahānaṃ ca yato jñānamiti śrutiḥ ॥ 99॥

Translation (by Swami Vimuktananda):

90. The theory one hears of from the scripture, that Prarabdha does not lose its hold upon one even after the origination of the knowledge of Atman, is now being refuted.
 91. After the origination of the knowledge of Reality, Prarabdha verily ceases to exist, inasmuch as the body and the like become non-existent; just as a dream does not exist on waking.
 92. That Karma which is done in a previous life is known as Prarabdha (which produces the present life). But such Karma cannot take the place of Prarabdha (for a man of knowledge), as he has no other birth (being free from ego).
  93. Just as the body in a dream is superimposed (and therefore illusory), so is also this body. How could there be any birth of the superimposed (body), and in the absence of birth (of the body) where is the room for that (i.e., Prarabdha) at all ?
  94. The Vedanta texts declare ignorance to be verily the material (cause) of the phenomenal world just as earth is of a jar. That (ignorance) being destroyed, where can the universe subsist ?
  95. Just as a person out of confusion perceives only the snake leaving aside the rope, so does an ignorant person see only the phenomenal world without knowing the reality.
  96. The real nature of the rope being known, the appearance of the snake no longer persists; so the substratum being known, the phenomenal world disappears completely.
  97. The body also being within the phenomenal world (and therefore unreal), how could Prarabdha exist ? It is, therefore, for the understanding of the ignorant alone that the Shruti speaks of Prarabdha.
  98. “And all the actions of a man perish when he realizes that (Atman) which is both the higher and the lower”. Here the clear use of the plural by the Shruti is to negate Prarabdha as well.
  99. If the ignorant still arbitrarily maintain this, they will not only involve themselves into two absurdities but will also run the risk of forgoing the Vedantic conclusion. So one should accept those Shrutis alone from which proceeds true knowledge.


Warmest Regards,
Kathirasan K

> On 30 Aug 2023, at 9:56 PM, Sudhanshu Shekhar via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> 
> Namaste.
> 
> The Bhagvad Gita bhAshya stating continuance of prArabdha is within the
> framework of srishti-drishTi-vAda only.
> 
> In DSV, there is no jIvanmukti, no prArabdha, no avidyA Lesha. EkajIvavAda
> section in Advaita Siddhi may be perused. All references to jnAnI and
> jIvanmukti in shAstra are stated to be arthavAda.
> 
> On Wed, 30 Aug, 2023, 7:16 pm Jaishankar Narayanan via Advaita-l, <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> 
>> Namaste,
>> 
>> Even in Bhagavad Gita 4.37 bhashya Shankara accepts the continuation of
>> Prarabdha karma for jnAni
>> 
>> ज्ञानमेव अग्निः ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि भस्मसात् कुरुते तथा
>> निर्बीजीकरोतीत्यर्थः । न हि साक्षादेव ज्ञानाग्निः कर्माणि इन्धनवत्
>> भस्मीकर्तुं शक्नोति । तस्मात् सम्यग्दर्शनं सर्वकर्मणां निर्बीजत्वे कारणम्
>> इत्यभिप्रायः । सामर्थ्यात् येन कर्मणा शरीरम् आरब्धं तत् प्रवृत्तफलत्वात्
>> उपभोगेनैव क्षीयते । अतो यानि अप्रवृत्तफलानि ज्ञानोत्पत्तेः प्राक् कृतानि
>> ज्ञानसहभावीनि च अतीतानेकजन्मकृतानि च तान्येव सर्वाणि भस्मसात् कुरुते ॥
>> 
>> Knowledge itself being the fire, reduces to ashes all actions, that is it
>> renders them without cause, for the fire of Knowledge itself
>> cannot directly burn actions to ashes, like pieces of wood. So, the idea
>> implied is that full enlightenment is the cause of making all actions
>> causeless. From the force of the context it follows that, since the result
>> of actions owing to which the present body has been born has already become
>> effective, therefore it gets exhausted only through experiencing it. Hence,
>> Knowledge reduces to ashes only all those actions that were done (in
>> this life) prior to the rise of Knowledge and that have not become
>> effective, as also those performed along with (that is after the dawn of)
>> Knowledge, and those that were done in the many past lives.
>> 
>> with love and prayers,
>> Jaishankar
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