jnana and prarabdha

[Giri]

At 11:52 PM 6/27/96 -0500, anand hudli wrote:

>   The position of advaita, according to my understanding, is as follows.
>  Even after the attainment of jnaana, the body may continue due to what
>  are called praarabdha karmas. All karmas may be classified as 1) those
>  which are yet to fructify, 2) those which has started to fructify and
>  3) those which will fructify in future. This makes, of course, the
>  standard assumption that all karmas must bear fruit sometime after they
>  are performed.

        The 1,2,3 are just differentiating between sanchita, prarabdha and
agami karma, I suppose.

>
>  What jnaana does is to burn up karmas belonging to categories 1) and
>  3) above. That is, a jnaani's previous karmas which are yet to bear fruit
>  will be burned up by jnaana, so these karmas will have no effect
>  whatsoever. So also, karmas which a jnaani may perform after the
>  attainment of jnaana will have no effect on him. The remaining karmas
>  are those belonging to category 2). These are not destroyed by jnaana,

        While I understand what you are trying to explain, here is what
Ramana Maharshi says (page 422 of Talks):

The scriptures say that jnana is the fire which burns away all karma
(sarvakarmani). Sarva (all) is interpreted in two way : (1) to include
prarabhda
(2) to exclude it. In the first way : if a man with three wives dies, it
is asked, "Can two of them be called widows and the third not?" All are
widows. So it is with prarabdha, agami and sanchita. When there is no
karta none of them can hold out any longer.

        The second explanation is, however, given only to satisfy the
enquirer. It is said that all karma is burnt away leaving prarabdha
alone. The body is said to continue in the functions for which it has
taken birth. That is prarabdha. But from the jnani's point of view, there
is only Self which manifests in such variety. There is no body or karma
apart from Self, so that the actions don't affect him.

**end
        I think you gave me the second explanation to satisfy the
enquirer :-)

>  The time for which the jnaani's body lives after the dawn of jnaana is
>  dependent on the amount of praarabdha karmas he/she has accumulated
>  in the past lives and in this life before the attainment of jnaana.
>  The body may thus live for 21 days or 10 years or 20 years or any
>  period of time. Some jnaani's, even after becoming jnaani's, live up
>  to a ripe old age. Some die young. The notion that the body dies after
>  21 days is not supported by this theory.

        Thank you for your explanation. Guess there are no other theories
:-) from major schools since other major schools (like dvaita etc) reject
jivanmuktha.

Namaste.