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Re: Iswara and Karma

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madhav.vasudevan • April 26, 2001 


SrI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

Dear Sri Kasthuri,

You wrote:
===========
Dear bhaktas,

I have a question on how the relationship between Iswara and
the "law" of karma is viewed by our acharyas. I think this is
a restatement of a question of Sri Sadananda.

  I understand that Iswara is the one who gives the rewards of
the acts of the jivas. And that Iswara himself, though acting,
is not subject to the consequences of acts in the way that
jivas in samsara are.

  But the question is what is this karmic "law" that Iswara
executes? There are two alternatives.

(1) Is this law nothing but the sankalpa of Iswara,
his eternal will? Then the concept of karma means that this
sankalpa is not arbitarary but follows a scheme, a pattern.
(2) Does Iswara have no choice but to execute the "law"?
In this alternative, the "law" simply is, and Iswara just
implements it.

Would like to know if acharyas have said something about
this question.

I have put the term law in quotes because we are talking about
entities with free will and not insentient entities.

-kasturi
=================

Interesting query:
Let me give my two cents worth:


Sriman Narayanan's incarnation (Avataar) and birth is different from ours.
As you know, we are bound by karmas, whereas He is never bound by KarmAs.

1. Sriman Narayanan appears because of his own will and we are born because of
our Karma. The Lord does not have absolutely any karma.

2. Sriman Narayanan incarnates and his divine qualities like jnAnam does not
contract but
when we are born, our jnAnam gets contracted as per our karma.

3. Sriya: Pathi shows Himself with His most exquistiely Beautiful divine body
made of
Suddha Satvam) and we are born with the material body (mixture of rajas,
thamas and satvam) according to our own past karma.

4. Sriman Narayanan's birth, which is an avtaar is real. He incarnates during
the time when dharma declines and adharmam grows. He dispells adharmam and
establishes dharmam and protects the devotees (Saadhu Janam).

HE (when He appeared as Krishna, the cowherd Boy) took care of cows in such
"real" fashion;
He used to take the cow that is used to drinking only clear waters ("kazhuneer")
was offered
by Krishna in that manner; the one which prefers the waters mixed one with all
"thavidu",
umi, etc., was mixedvery well by Krishna befroe offering to the cow for
drinking.
He was such a perfectionist, though no one will ask Him of He does not do.

He used to take the horses (of His Chariot) to the waters to bathe them, remove
the small insects
from their necks with care;

He Himself says: (in Chapter 3 -22 sloka):

Translation by Sri VN Gopaladesikan Swamin):

Arjuna, Nothing is to be done by Me in the three worlds; Nothing is to be
obtained which
has not been obtained so far; Even then, I remain only in work.

I am the Lord of all. I am omniscient. I have nothing unaccomplished. For Me,
there is
nothing whatever that has to be done in all three worlds. I do not have to
attain anything
hereafter and - which I have not attained so far- for which I have to do work.
Still I
do work, for protecting and guiding the world.

GithAchAryan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Narayana Narayana
adiyEn Narayana dAsan madhavakkannan



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