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Re: prakriti and karma
Kunal Singh (nnyxsi@ny.ubs.com) wrote:
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>The later discussions in the Bhagavad Gita supporting bhakti yoga
>comprises the Vaishnav theory of salvation. What is illogical about
>the theory is that determinism and personal responsibility cannot be
>mixed. If you say that God is in absolute control then there is no
>such thing as personal responsibility, all is determined by destiny.
>Whatever effects your karma have, occur in the realm of Prakrti and
>their effects do not go beyond that. Your responsibility for "your"
>actions as your "ahamkar" would have you believe ends with "you having
>suffered the effects of your actions" within Prakrti. However, the
>svabhava guna enables the Vaisnavas to keep track of their "sin/good
>deed" accounts. Indeed Vaisnavas seemed to have been better
>accountants than philosophers.
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Dear Kunalji:
I found your comment that determinism and personal responsiblity can
not be mixed very interesting. This is a very old debate about whether there
is a free will. I do not think, however, that there is any mixing between
determinism and personal responsibility in the Gita. It is true that God knows
everything about past, present and future and is in absolute control. However,
the ordinary jiva does not know that. God is present in the jiva as the Inner
Controller (Antaryami). The ordinary jiva, however, is separated from the
Inner Controller by his ego. Thus as long as the jiva identifies with his ego
he will be responsible for his good and bad deeds. When the jiva realizes God,
i.e when he is no longer separated from God by his ego, the jiva will find
that there is no free will for an unrealized soul. He will find that not even
a leaf falls without God's consent. Why is it so? This is because God is by
definition omniscient and omnipotent. Thus there can only be one free will,
that of God. Otherwise you will have to admit a multiplicity of omniscient and
omnipotent Beings. The Jiva because of his ego feels that he is separate from
God and feels that he has a free will and thus has personal responsibility. In
reality the ego bound jiva does not have it.
Let me try to explain by an analogy. The jiva is like a machine while
God is like the electric current that drives the machine. Without God it is
not possible for jiva to do anything just as a machine can not operate without
the electric current. The ego bound jiva does not realize that. As long as the
jiva does not identify with the electric current but instead identifies with
the machine (his ego) he is responsible for his good and bad deeds. When the
jiva identifies with the current i.e with God he will be incapable of doing
anything bad as his will merges with the Divine will. Only then the jiva will
acquire free will. That is why only realized souls like Sri Chaitanya or Sri
Ramakrishna are truly free. This is because their wills have become the same
as the one and only one truly free will, the Divine will.
With Regards
Pradip G
