[Advaita-l] pUrvajas' karma / pApa & our burden

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Tue, 14 Sep 2010, Bhaskar YR wrote:

>
> Back to your original question, one's karma is mostly ones own but it is
> affected by ones attachment.  If their child were hurt, doesn't a parent
> feel the pain as keenly themselves?  Similarly if something good happened
> in their lives, doesn't a parent get just as happy themselves?
>
> bhaskar :
>
> prabhuji, I feel it is not karma phala of that child which affect & make
> its parent to suffer from pain...It is prarent's sentimental attachment to
> their kid!!  I dont think karma of the kid influencing the parent here..

Put it this way: it is attachment that makes the childs karma affect the 
parent.  Karma depends on the concept of aham and aham ("I") is an 
individual pronoun.  But is "I" strictly housed in one body?  Even in the 
most secularized atheistic segments of society most people do not live 
only for themselves.

>
> Sri vyAs prabhuji :
>
> The pitrs are connected to their descendents like no one else.
>
> bhaskar :
>
> Yes prabhuji, but a doubt arises in my mind whenever I offer my tarpaNam &
> piNda pradhAna to my pitru-s..have they not re-incarnated (punarjanma) yet
> (I am aware of the time difference between human & pitru-s..but still) ??
> Even after saying in every saMkalpa every year like 'punarAvrutti rahita
> shAshvata brahma lOka prAptyarthaM' or vaikunta lOka praptyarthaM are they
> still in pitru lOka??
>

We have no way of knowing for sure but we have hope that if the pitrs are 
in a condition to receive it, they will be pleased by our offerings.  It's 
like we save money for a childs education, marriage etc. even though we do 
not know if e.g. the child will be a dunce who does not go to college etc.


> And if these pitru-s karma phala (pApa or puNya) keep on affecting their
> future generations,  does it not mean that one is suffering / enjoying the
> 'karma phala' for which he himself is not responsible??  Is this not equal
> to say 'suffer or enjoy the 'karma phala' which is the result of karma
> done by somebody else !!??  How this is different from 'akruta abhyAgama'
> and kruta vipraNAsha which shankara refutes in sUtra bhAshya?? kindly
> clarify prabhuji.
>

Because one has the power to end its effect by e.g. bali.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>