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Re: Free-will vs Pre-determination

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Bhashyam Raghunandan • August 2, 2002 


Dear bhagavatas,
Adiyen would like to express my humble thougts on the
same subject.

1. In the introduction of many vyakyanams, our
poorvacharyas begin with this:
The lord has put in lot of efforts to help the
jeevatman to attain paramapadam.  This starts with
creating the leela vibuthi, providing shareerams to
all these jivatmans, giving them the shastras, then
taking avataras to teach these shastras to the world
and also making the nitya suris to take birth in the
leela vibuthi.  Now with these statements, it is clear
that the Lord gives us all the freedom to do what we
want.  If everything that we do was pre-determined,
then why sould the Lord put in all these efforts
[krushi] to attain us?  According to Sri sampradayam,
the Lord [Swami] attains his property (jeevatman)
[swathu].
Then the question arises as to if the Lord has to
attain his property with these much of efforts, then
why should he be called as Sathya Sankalpan? if he
cannot change all jivatamans by a simple sankalpa to
consider him as the upayam to reach moksha.  This
question again confirms that the Lord providies all
the jivas the freewill to choose any hita [means] to
attain their purushartha [goal].  Again these
purusharthas can be anything such as dharma, artha,
kama and moksha.  Each of these have different means
to attain.
In such as scenerio, if the Lord providies the jivas
the freewill to do whatever they want, then what is it
that we talk about as prarabdha karma, sanchita karma
etc?
As per my understanding, these karmas determine the
body into which a jiva enters [note that the jivatman
need not enter a body of a human, he could be
sthavaram [tree] or a tiryak [an animal]].  There upon
even if the jivatman gets a human birth, the karma
determines the environment he is born, the environment
he lives etc.  Now the jivatman has to live his life
in these conditions to enjoy/suffer all his poorva
karmas.  While doing the same, because he has the free
will, he will also does fresh acts [karmas] which will
fall into the category of punya or papa.  The story
would go on like this.  That is why we call this as
samsara sagaram which has been there from time
unknown.
Bhagavan with lot of compassion on these jivatamas is
continiously trying to help them to come out of this
sagaram.  And for the same reason does all the krushi
that is mentioned in the first paragraph.  He has the
swatrantryam to punish each jivatman for the deeds
[karma] he does but at the same time because of his
daya considers small good deeds of the jivatmans as
big deeds and based on the same provides us with
better environment in the subsequent janmas [better
environment is nothing but sadacharya samashrayanam,
bhagavata samparkam etc].  The jiva slowly then
understands [attains knowledge about] his swaroopam
that he is paratantran,he is a sheshan to the Lord,
his only purushartam is the kainkaryam to the divine
couple [moksha] and the only means to the same is the
lord himself [hita].

In short my humble views of the same is:
While all the jivas have a freewill to do what they
want, a certain aspect of their birth in the leela
vibuthi is predetermined.



adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Raghunandan.


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