[Advaita-l] Prayer and prArabdha

[V Subrahmanian]

On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 10:29 AM, Venkata sriram P
<venkatasriramp at yahoo.in>wrote:

> Dear Members,
>
> I was listening to the Bhagavat Gita discourse by Shri Paripoornananda
> Saraswati
> of Sripeetam, Kakinada.  While explaining the karma yoga, swamiji said
> that none can escape the bhoga of prArabdha karma phala.
>
> Even if one does prarthana / mantra japa / navagraha japas etc., prarabdha
> karma phala has to be experienced.  There is no escape.
>
> I would like to know, how far the above statement is true.
>
> sriram
>

Here is a reply from Sri Korada Subrahmanya Sastri in the Bharatiya Vidwat
PariShad recently on a similar topic:

//According to Vedanta - अवश्यम् अनुभोक्तव्यम् कृतं कर्म शुभाशुभम् I
[One has to necessarily experience the effects of his past actions - good
or evil.]

Then what about - ज्ञानाग्निः सर्वकर्माणि दहते ? Out of संचितकर्म  and
प्रारब्धकर्म , ज्ञानम्  can destroy the former but not the latter , i.e.
प्रारब्धकर्म has to be  faced .

[This is the conclusion stated by Shankaracharya in a number of places
across his prasthAnatraya bhashya.]

Then why  ग्रहशान्ति ? it is शान्तिः , not निवारणम्.One may be suffering
from fever - if ग्रहशान्ति ( जपः , तर्पणम् , होमः , ब्राह्मणभोजनम्  or
यथाशक्ति ) is performed then there will be शान्तिः , i.e. the person
suffering from fever may have the *degree of intensity reduced - because
अवश्यमनुभोक्तव्यम् .
*
Since one should always be शुचि , it is suggested as a सामान्यशास्त्रम् -
यः स्मरेत् पुण्डरीकाक्षं स बाह्याभ्यन्तरः शुचिः I
मोक्षमिच्छेत् जनार्दनात् - if the person in question has accumulated he may
get जीवन्मुक्ति  and such people do not feel the effects / affects of
कर्म(Ramanamaharsi was suffering - not suffering from Cancer).

जपतो नास्ति पातकम् - naturally , if one concentrates on हरि  then he would
certainly refrain from any पाप .//

By prayers one will get the 'daiva bala' to undergo the suffering.  So, the
'change' or 'relief' that prayer or any other prAyashchitta karma can bring
about is more in the subject, that is the person involved, rather than in
the trouble that has come up.  Thus, the disease could continue but the
sufferer could get more strength, mentally and physically, to endure.  As
Sada ji pointed out the jnAnam or viveka that the Self is not the sufferer
but only the body-mind is another more mature way of enduring prArabdha.
In fact the very word 'prArabdha' contains the answer in it:  That which
has commenced to give fruit.  And the shastram gives analogies such as an
arrow released and on the way to hit the target, the potter's  wheel
rotating due to the original force that set it in rotation, the cycle
continuing to move due to the initial peddling, etc.

subrahmanian.v

>
>
>
>
>
>