Astrological Determinism

[Guest guest]

List Members,

 

On my Astrovedica list,

We've been talking about destiny lately. In my book Astro Vedica, I

have a chapter which deals with this theme. Here is a piece from

Chapter Three: Perspectives on Astrological Determinism-

 

 

" And although it is true that karmas fall off for one who utters

Hare Nama and engages in spiritual practice otherwise, the confusion

actually has to do with which karmas are the ones that are cancelled.

 

A year or two back an essay was generated by the philosophical

research committee of the Hare Krishna movement, penned by

Shyamasundara Dasa, which shined some light on this question. It was

entitled " Fate, Freewill and the Law of Karma."

 

This essay began by explaining divisions of karma because not all

karmas are of the same nature. Kriyaman karma is defined as newly

created karma and sanchita karma as stored-up karma. Sanchita karma

is further divided as anurabdha karma, or reactions which have not

yet manifested and are lying in a seed-like state, and prarabdha

karma which refers to karma which has already begun to manifest.

 

Then the Vedantra Sutra is quoted which states: " Upon obtaining

Vidya there takes place the non-clinging of works done in the present

life, and the destruction of karma stored up which was done in the

past life. This is so because it is declared in the Upanishads." This

seems to support the idea that one gets off Scot free by chanting

Narayana's name or clapping his or her hands in front of Shree Murti.

 

But the 15th verse of the same chapter seems to put everything in its

perspective. There it is stated that " … only the immature karmas of

former lives, namely, those karmas whose effects have not begun, are

destroyed by knowledge." This verse seems to suggest that the

prarabdha karmas remain even if one were to obtain Vidya.

 

And it is well-known amongst astrologers that the horoscope is

indicative of one's prarabdha karmas. The horoscope is actually the

wheel of time which was set into motion at the moment of birth. The

prarabdha karmas it represents have already manifested; it is only a

matter of time before they come to pass. And according to the above

verse of Vedantra Sutra they will come to pass even if one takes up

religious practice ( sadhana ) or obtains Vidya ( knowledge )."

 

Members,

 

The Vedantra Sutra is saying that the karmas which have begun to

manifest, the prarabda karmas, the karmas indicated in the horoscope-

those karmas do come to pass, even for a pure soul. Destiny!

 

The book is at the printers. It will be out soon enough and available

on my site. vediculture

 

Dharmapada.