agnihotrādi tu tatkāryāyaiva taddarśanāt ..4.1.16..

15. But only the immature Karmas of the former lives, namely, those Karmas whose effect has not yet begun, are destroyed by knowledge; because that is the limit of the life of the Jnanin; (namely) the limit of the life of the wise is the period over which his former Karmas which have begun to produce their effects extend. — 496.

 

COMMENTARY

 

The word «Tu» in the Sutra is used in order to remove the doubt raised by the Purvapaksha. The word «Purve» or «former works» mean accumulated good and evil works of the time prior to the present life. The word «Anarabdha-karye» means those works whose fruit has not commenced to originate. Only this latter kind of Sanchita work is destroyed and not that kind of Sanchita work whoso effects have already begun to manifest. Why so? «Tad avadheh», because that is the limit. In the Chhandogya Upanishad (VI., 14. 4) it has been said that the man lives on even after the acquiring of the knowledge, if his Prarabdha Karmas are not exhausted. The Shruti says: «For him there is delay only as long as he is not delivered from the body». In the Bhagavata Purana, in the address of the Gratis to the Lord, we find the following (X., 87. 40):

He who has realised Thee, does not perceive that good and bad effects are produced by Thee, on account of the virtue and vice generated by the man in his past, because he is not conscious of the commands and prohibitions of Scripture regarding good and bad deed affecting all embodied beings. (Because thou wiliest it so).

This shows that it is the will of the Lord, that the man who Has obtained the Divine Wisdom should go on living in this body, so long as his Prarabdha Karmas are not exhausted.

Note: But the great difference in his life before the origination of Vidya and in his life after the origination of such Vidya consists in this; that before such origination, he feels the good and bad effect of his Karmas, but after the origination of such Vidya, his centre of consciousness being fixed in the Lord, he is so much absorbed in the Lord, that he never perceives the effects of these Karmas.

To summarise. Vidya is verily supremely powerful. She destroys effectually, without leaving any remainder, all Karmas just as a well-lit fire reduces to ashes all sorts of fuel. Though this we learn from the books and must believe it also, yet we see on the other hand, ‘that divinely illumined sages, full masters of Divine Wisdom, are living on this earth and their bodies do not fall down as soon as they get Divine Wisdom. We further see that they teach others and are not inactive, consequently, we must admit that it is the will of the Lord that such men should continue to live, in order to spread his knowledge and the knowledge of Theosophy (Brahma-vidya) among mankind. This does not detract from the glory of Vidya. (Divine Wisdom). The Vidya has the power of burning up all Karmas including the Prarabdha, but she does not do so, because her power with regard to the Prarabdha is countermanded by the will of the Lord. Just as the power of the fire to burn everything, may be suspended by the stronger power of Mantras and jewels. Thus there is no harm if Vidya, under the command of the Lord, does not burn up the Prarabdha Karmas.

Some raise another objection. They say Vidya cannot originate but through the body which is the result of the Prarabdha Karmas. Their argument is: The origination of knowledge cannot take place without dependence on an aggregate of works whose effects have already begun to operate, and when this dependence has once been entered into, we must, as in the case of the potter’s wheel, wait until the motion of that which once has begun to move, comes to an end, there being nothing to obstruct it in the interim. As when the force which moves the wheel is exhausted, the wheel stops moving of itself, so also when the fruit is fully manifested, the Karmas that produce the fruit are destroyed and not before that.

To this objection we reply that this is not so. Knowledge is the most powerful of all forces. She destroys all Karmas from their very root. She can destroy even the energy that moves the potter’s wheel, namely, the Prarabdha Karmas that makes this body to live; but she does not do so through the will of the Lord. Nothing can resist her irresistible course, but the will of the Lord. As a potter’s wheel in motion may be instantly put to rest, by placing upon it a heavier stone than the wheel with its momentum, and the wheel would cease to move, so Vidya - is like that heavy stone, which can stop the motion of the wheel of Prarabdha Karma even. That she does not do so, is in deference to the will of the Lord, and not because she has not the power. Therefore, the statement that Divine knowledge (Vidya) can destroy all Karmas is absolutely correct.

Adhikarana XII — Vidya does not destroy the effects

of Nitya Karmas

 

The statement that the past good deeds of a Wise One are destroyed by Vidya, logically leads to the conclusion that the effects of all the obligatory duties (Nitya Karmas) are also destroyed, just as the effects of Kamya Karmas (religious rites performed for the sake of getting some desired object). This deduction is not, however, correct; and the present section is commenced to establish this fact. The proposition of the Brihadaranyaka (IV., 4. 22) — «both the good and evil works are destroyed» — leads to a fresh doubt.

Doubt: Does the Vidya destroy the effects of Nitya Karmas like fire sacrifice, etc., in the same way as she destroys the effects of Kamya Karmas?

Purvapaksha: She destroys the Nitya Karmas also, because it is the attribute inherent in Vidya to destroy all Karmas; for the essential power of a substance can never be lost.

Siddhanta: This view is refuted in the next Sutra.

SUTRA IV. 1. 16.

 

अग्निहोत्रादि तु तत्कार्यायैव तद्दर्शनात्॥४.१.१६॥

 

… Agnihotra-adi, the daily fire-offering to fire, etc. … Tu, but, indeed. … Tat, in the form of that (i.e., knowledge), … Karyaya, to the effect of getting the fruit, … Eva, even. …. Tat, That…. Darshanat, because of being seen.