Even when the soul
is in the embodied state during its earthly existence, the Advaita thinkers bold that man
who is essentially a spirit, can attain the jeevan mukti state where he can live entirely
in the spirit without being affected by the evil effects of bondage, by the shackles of
the body and entanglements of matter. They rely upon the Upanishadic saying:
"Ashareeram vavasantham na priyapriyo sprushatah:"
Which means that he who is without the body, as it were, is unaffected by either priya or
apriya, likes or dislikes. The ways by which such a state can be attained have also been
elaborately dissussed and established. They have argued that the bondage of the soul in
matter is due to beginningless ignorance or anadi avidya, as they have termed it and once
this avidya is destroyed by jnana, the evil
effects of karma are destroyed. Karma is of three kinds. Those actions, which will produce the effect in future life, are called
"agami karmas"; those, which have been already performed in past lives and may
give rise to effects in future, are called "sanchita" and those karmas, which
have already. begun to fructify in the present life are called "prarabdha". |
