What is prarabhda karma?
I was recently asked by one of the participants in the talks I give on Hindu philosophy what is the concept of prarabdha karma and is there any escape from it? To answer his question, I wrote this short essay.
Mahadevan (1971) notes that Hindu thinkers distinguish three types of karma: sancita (accumulated karma from past births), prarabdha (that part of past karma that is fructifying in this birth and agami (coming karma which also includes karma of this birth). Gambhiranand (1998:1016) defines prarabhdha as ‘’karma-phala results of past actions that have set up the
present body, i.e. the present life, of a person and commenced bearing their fruits.
Hindu scriptures note that prarabhdha has to be endured. There is no escape from it. But does it make us fatalist then? The intention of the Shastras is not to make one a fatalist but rather to prepare the person to
endure the situation psychologically.
In this COVID19 era, suppose a person accidentally comes in contact with an infected person and gets the virus, the person instead of brooding over why I got the virus while many others have not, should instead focus on getting relevant treatment and endure what has fallen upon him with equanimity. This is the import of prarabdha.
I provide here references which emphasize this aspect.
Srimad Bhagavad Gita
‘’God does not interfere once the cycle of prarabdha has started’’ (Tilak2006:164) ‘’If the consequences of prarabdha have not been fully endured, one has to take birth again’’ (Tilak 2006:166). Lokmanya Tilak is citing Vedanta Sutra 4.1.13–51 and Samkhya Karika 67).
Dharmashastras
“Every act whether good or bad produces a result which is inevitable and cannot be escaped… an evil [deed] cannot be expiated by work of merit and its punishment must be borne…the man of evil deeds cannot secure divine grace and fellowship’’ (Moghe, 2000:683). It is further said that ‘’the actions ripen and produce results when the self passes from one body to another” (Moghe, 2000:684). Furthermore, “the doer of the good or evil act alone has to experience the results of the acts and his relatives have nothing to do with his acts. This becomes evident from the Mahabharata Santi Parva …. the Bhagavad Gita notes that complete surrender to God destroys the effects of the evil deeds’’ (Moghe 2000:685).
The Vijananadipika of Padmapada compares ‘’the sanciyamana karma to the grains standing in the field. Sancita karma to the grains stored in one house and Prarabdha karma to the food in one’s stomach. It further maintains that the karma of the sanchita and sanciyamana type is annihilated by the correct knowledge and the prarabdha karma is exhausted by undergoing its results for some time ‘’(Moghe 2000:686).
It is further said that ‘’when the realization is attained, the prarabdha karma cannot be done away with the death of the body and the self is jivanmukta but his other karma is done away by the realization. …this is also supported by the Bhagavad Gita’’ (Moghe 2000:686).
Dr Kane notes that ‘’the soul is born to parents suited to his condition. It should be remembered that a karma theory does not express what a man inherits from his ancestors but what he inherits from himself in some former states of existence’’ (Moghe 2000:687).
Some Mimansakas hold the view that ‘’one may achieve liberation, after exhausting one’s fructifying (prarabdha) karmas by reaping their results in the present life’’ Adi Sankara, however, holds the view that for liberation jnana is essential. (Bhattacharya 2006:260)
References
Bhattacharya, D. 2006. ‘’Post -Sankara Advaita’’ in Bhattacharya, H. (ed) The cultural heritage of India, vol III, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata. pp. 255-280.
Gambhiranand, S. 1998. Madhusudana Sarasvati Bhagavad-Gita with annotation Gudhartha Dipika, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata.
Mahadevan, T.M.P. 1971. Outlines of Hinduism, Chetana Ltd, Mumbai.
Moghe, S. 2000. History of the Dharma Shastra — In Essence, P. V. Kane Memorial Trust, Mumbai.
Tilak, B. G. 2006. Gita Rahasya, Tilak Brothers, Pune. (translated into English from original Marathi).
