The Karmas and our destiny (karmaphalapradaa)

[Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian]

Gummuluru Murthy wrote:

>Putting 1 and 2 together, it seems to me destiny and adr^shhTam >probably
>have the same meaning (taking into account they are from different

Not so. For shrI sha.nkara is refuting the mImA.nsaka-s and the way they
use adR^ishhTam was clearly explained by Anand. A good reference is the
text by kR^ishhNa yajvan.

>languages). In this background, Shri Shankara's interpretation of
>Karmaphalapradaa is quite clear, and of course consistent with
>sruti, smr^ti and brahma sutra.

Certainly! However it is clear that Ishvara gives fruits impartially by
the actions of the actors. The mImA.nsaka-s claim that it is an unseen
force since they don't accept an Ishvara. shrI sha.nkara agrees with the
pUrvamImA.nsaka-s in that action X produces result Y, but that the
result cannot be awarded by an insentient entity, but is impartially
given by Ishvara. There is no question of lack of free-will here.

Ramakrishnan.