[Advaita-l] Doubts on karma, future births, etc.

[V Subrahmanian]

Jnana eliminating karma only means that the Jnani realizes that he was
never a kartA-bhoktA at any point of time: past, present and future.  Thus,
the elimination or exhausting of karma is not any process in time.  It is
just a knowledge that one is Brahman the akartA-abhoktA.

BSB 4.1.9.13 we have this emphatic statement by Shankara on the annulling
of kartRtva-bhoktRtva for a Jnani:


//पूर्वसिद्धकर्तृत्वभोक्तृत्वविपरीतं हि त्रिष्वपि
कालेषुअकर्तृत्व-अभोक्तृत्वस्वरूपं ब्रह्म अहमस्मि । न इतः पूर्वं कर्ता
भोक्ता वा
अहमासम्, न इदनीं, नापि भविष्यत्काले इति ब्रह्मवित् अवगच्छति ।

*Contrary to the earlier belief that I have doership & enjoyership, in all
the three periods of time I am the Supreme Brahman that is devoid of
doership & enjoyership. I was not a kartA (a person acting) or a bhoktA (a
person enjoying/experiencing) before, I am not that even now and I will not
be that in the future as well. The knower of Brahman understands thus.//
[Shankara's brahmasutra bhashya: 4.1.9.13]*


*regards*


*subbu*



On Tue, Dec 31, 2013 at 12:27 PM, Suresh <mayavaadi at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Thanks, friends.
>
>
> I understand that only Jnana can eliminate all karma - not disputing that.
> But I am wondering how we will know whether the karma is getting
> eliminated? I am talking about evaluating ourselves, not judging others.
> How will I know for certain that Jnana is destroying my karma, and that
> there is nothing else i need to do?
>
> I am a little confused as to how we assess progress - do we simply assume
> that because we're advaitins (and therefore have right knowledge), karma
> will be eliminated sooner or later? Or do we assess our behavior, thoughts,
> and come to conclusions?
>
>
> Suresh
>
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>