Prarabdha Karma and the Jivanmukta
The Jivanmukta continues to experience Prarabdha Karma (karma already set in motion) but is no longer identified with the experiencer — the body-mind continues its trajectory while the Self witnesses without attachment.
A frequently asked question: if the Jivanmukta has recognized their identity with Brahman, why do they continue to experience the body's pleasures and pains, sicknesses, and aging? The answer: Prarabdha Karma (the portion of accumulated karma already set in motion for this life — like an arrow already released) continues to operate until it is exhausted. Just as a potter's wheel continues to spin after the potter's hand is removed (by the momentum already given it), the body-mind continues its trajectory even after Brahma Jnana dissolves the identification with it. But the Jivanmukta does not experience this continuation as suffering — because they are no longer identified with the experiencer. Pain may appear in the body; the Self witnesses it without personal identification. 'This body is sick' — not 'I am sick.' The Jivanmukta does not add psychological suffering (the second arrow) to physical pain (the first arrow). The two remaining forms of karma (Sanchita — accumulated, and Agami — future) are both destroyed by Brahma Jnana.
The Jivanmukta experiences pleasure and pain as they arise — but as a witness, not as a sufferer.
The Advaita texts liken the Jivanmukta's remaining life to an arrow already loosed or a potter's wheel still turning after the hand is withdrawn: Prarabdha Karma runs its course and the body feels pain, but with the knot of identification cut, the pain is witnessed rather than suffered as 'mine.'
Vivekachudamani
Written about in
- What Advaita Vedanta says about letting go of results
Consequences already in motion keep arriving after any realisation. What changes is who is taken to be having them, not what happens.
- What Advaita Vedanta says about illness and the body failing
The tradition meets the obvious objection head on: realized people still get sick. Prarabdha karma, the portion already set in motion, runs on like a potter's wheel after the hand is lifted. Realization is claimed to change the identification, never the prognosis.