Jnani and Prarabdha

Sri Ramana Maharshi

About 10-30 a.m. today a visitor asked Bhagavan, “The realised man has no further karma. He is not bound by his karma.Why should he still remain with his body?” 

Bhagavan replied, “Who asks this question? Is it the realised man or the ajnani? Why should you bother what the jnani does or why he does anything? You look after yourself.” A little later he added, “You are under the impression you are the body. So you think the jnani also has a body. Does the jnani say he has a body? He may look to you as having a body and doing things with the body, as others do. The burnt rope still looks like a rope, but it can’t serve as a rope if you try to bind anything with it. So long as one identifies oneself with the body, all this is difficult to understand. That is why it is sometimes said in reply to such questions, ‘The body of the jnani will continue till the force of prarabdha works itself out, and after the prarabdha is exhausted it will drop off. An illustration made use of in this connection is that of an arrow already discharged which will continue to advance and strike its target. But the truth is the jnani has transcended all karmas, including the prarabdha karma, and he is not bound by the body or its karmas.”